


Growing up Tucker

by mistressterably



Category: The Thick of It (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-08-26 13:33:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16682554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistressterably/pseuds/mistressterably
Summary: Continuing on from Forgotten and Found. Married life for Malcolm and Adaline. Never dull!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A big shout out to misswinterseat for her help and prompts through this one :)

  


Chapter 1 — Four months later…

Sam was sitting in the back seat of the car, a pet carrier on the seat beside her as George pulled into the village of Balquhidder. They’d had to drive up the day before to stay at a hotel in Stirling as the local bed and breakfast they would have stayed at wasn’t willing to allow the extra visitor. 

‘You’re sure that this surprise won’t be taken the wrong way by Malcolm?’

‘It’s all fine, George. I’ve been in regular contact with Adaline about it. She’s more than happy with our choice of gift for them.’

‘He just doesn’t come off as a guy who’d want a pet.’

‘I know Malcolm and I know that this will be just the right gift for him at this time of his life.’

‘Let’s hope so.’ George pulled into the parking lot that was used by hikers going up into the hills. ‘Next time, let’s rent one of those Land Rovers so we can just drive right up to his door.’

‘It’s not that long of a hike.’

‘Be a 5 minutes drive in a Land Rover.’ George pulled a backpack out of the trunk. ‘You’re going to be able to manage the carrier okay?’

‘I was thinking to try the leash.’

‘Are you mad? We want to get up there today.’

‘Fine, in the carrier then.’ Sam got the carrier from the back seat and soon they were heading up the trail to the cottage Malcolm and Adaline lived in. 

The cottage had become Malcolm’s full time permanent home. He still kept his house in London, but they only travelled there now when Malcolm had commitments for his memoirs. The last volume was set to publish at some point in the next 6 months and Malcolm was doing his best to wrap it up sooner rather than later. He didn’t want to be dragged away to press events any more than he had with their baby due in just 4 months or less. 

Adaline was still doing her hiking tours with Malcolm often joining her. He was quickly picking up on her regular stories and adding some of his own colour to them as they walked. There weren’t any tours booked for the next three days with Sam and George visiting. Adaline had tidied up and the guest room was all ready for the other couple. 

‘Malcolm?’ Adaline was sitting on the cottage porch, enjoying the morning air. ‘Have you got the kettle on?’

‘Not yet, love. Figured I’d shave and look presentable for the guests.’

‘Better finish up soon then. Sam said they would be here around 10 am. They’ve probably started the walk up.’

‘Won’t be more than a few more minutes,’ Malcolm called back.

Adaline settled back in her seat and left it to her husband to see to the kettle for their guests. She couldn’t help but smile in anticipation. She only knew that Sam and George were going to gift them a puppy, but she had no idea which breed they had picked. Her hand rested on her stomach, only slightly bigger with her pregnancy. The thought of having a puppy and a baby at the same time had originally put her off, but then she decided that letting the puppy and their child grow up together would be a wonderful thing to see. Especially as they lived out here in the hills and there weren’t a lot of other children for their coming baby to be around.

Whether Malcolm felt the same was a bit on the unknown side to Adaline. Her gut instinct was that it would be fine. The man had taken easily to the hills and their solitary life. 

‘Kettle’s on,’ Malcolm announced, joining her on the porch. ‘Any action?’

‘Malcolm, the baby is still too small for anything at all,’ Adaline smiled as his large hand covered her belly. 

‘Our child is going to make itself known soon,’ Malcolm predicted. 

‘Patience, Malcolm. You’ll be the second to know once our baby starts to kick.’

‘I wonder why Sam and George wanted to visit now?’ Malcolm had draped his arm over her shoulders, holding her close as he began to think out loud. ‘Not like anything was happening with the publishing just yet and we were going to head down to London in a month anyway.’

‘Maybe,’ Adaline patted his knee, ‘your friend just wanted to visit.’

‘Our friends,’ Malcolm corrected. ‘You and Sam get along very well now. No need to be humble about it, love.’

‘Well, our friends want to come for a visit and I’m happy to have them over. Nothing more than that.’ 

* * *  
Down the hill, Sam was tiring quickly with the carrier and a wriggling puppy in it. ‘Hold up, George. I’m going to try the leash with this fur-ball.’

‘Alright,’ George watched as Sam set the carrier down and opened the door just enough to reach in to grab the leash. Her hand was quickly covered in dog slobber from a happy puppy’s frenzied licking. 

‘Stop that,’ Sam chided the puppy and found the end of the leash. Pulling out, Sam groaned. It was chewed almost clean through in two spots.

George laughed. ‘Genuine leather, genuine chew toy.’

‘It’s too heavy to carry him in the carrier, George.’ Sam took the puppy out and held him in her arms, happy to let him lick her ear and face madly.

‘Think you can manage him in your arms then?’

‘Should be,’ Sam said. ‘It’s what, maybe 10 more minutes walking?’

‘About that, fifteen at most.’ George picked up the carrier. ‘Just keep that little fur-ball under control as best you can.’

‘At least this little guy is lighter out of the carrier.’ Sam hugged the little puppy close to stop it wriggling away. They continued on up the hill. 

Malcolm was in the kitchen making a pot of tea when their friends arrived. All he heard was a happy squeal from Adaline not realizing that she had spotted the puppy in Sam’s arms. Adaline hugged Sam and George before cuddling the little puppy. It’s eyes were blue with grey patches around them, there were other grey spots on its body and a darker grey on its ears. The ears were oversized still, but the pup would grow into them soon enough, just like it would with his big paws too. Right now, with Adaline scratching behind one of its ears it was trying to bark happily, but was just making some odd whuffing noises. Its large paws tried to claw at her happily.

‘He’s so adorable!’ Adaline said. ‘It is a he?’

‘Yes, you’ve got a little boy here,’ Sam said. ‘We’ve got all of his papers in the backpack for you. You’ll want to have a check up in the next 3 months. Unfortunately, you’ll need to buy a new leash. Maybe not a leather one.’ Sam held it up for Adaline to look at the remnants.

‘That’s quite the damage,’ Adaline noted. ‘Here, let me take this sweetie from you.’ She took the pup from Sam, getting some nips from him in return as it took offense at being moved from the warm perch he had. ‘George, why don’t you go right on in and dump that pack in the guest room. Send Malcolm out. He’s probably in the kitchen making sandwiches for us to have with our tea. Try to get him to come out without much ado.’

‘Will do,’ George headed in.

‘You think he’ll be okay with the puppy?’ Adaline asked Sam.

‘I think he’ll be fine after the initial shock. He’s never really had the time before retiring. Of course, with his other relationship that was like the worst possible pet scenario really.’

Adaline was scratching the pup’s ears again to help settle it in her arms. ‘He never talks about that.’

‘Don’t think he’d want to really, Adaline. It wasn’t a great time for him.’

‘No wonder he ran up here to the hills,’ she said and then yelped a little as a large pink tongue flicked over her face. ‘You slobber as much as Malcolm does!’

Sam laughed.

‘I don’t slobber!’ Malcolm claimed from behind the two women. ‘And what am I being compared to?’

‘Malcolm!’ Adaline was grinning as the Scot came around his wife to spot the pup in her arms. 

‘What the fuck?’ Malcolm’s eyes went wide.

‘Malcolm, language,’ Adaline told him off in her soft tone.

‘Sam? This your idea?’

‘It was. You’re about to have a baby. A puppy will give you some practice and be a wonderful companion to grow up with your child.’

‘I’m not sure about this, Sam,’ Malcolm reached out tentatively to the puppy being held by Adaline. The husky gave him a tentative yapping noise and its ears went back a little. ‘See.’

‘What do you expect, Malcolm,’ Adaline said. ‘You’ve poked your hand right at his nose. You’d be upset if anyone did that to you. Try to be more gentle. He likes to be scratched.’

Malcolm made a short hmph noise and then changed his approach to the pup. The blue eyes followed Malcolm’s hand movement towards its head until he got a little growl and then the blue eyes blinked with the happy look of a puppy being scratched in the right spot. ‘I honestly don't’ know about this, Sam.’

‘I like the idea,’ Adaline told him. ‘Having a dog up here that is close with our baby will be another set of eyes on our child. I don’t mind having some extra help on the hills when I’m hiking too.’

‘I won’t win will I?’ Malcolm sighed and then drew his hand back quickly as the pink tongue lashed out wetly at him.

‘Doubt it,’ George added as he rejoined the group outside the cottage. ‘I’ve only been around the pup for a few days and if you honestly don’t want the little fellow I’m happy to take him in.’

‘No, George. You’re not. This little fellow is staying right here in Balquhidder.’ Adaline announced. 

‘The lady has decided,’ Malcolm shrugged and left it to Adaline to take the pup inside the cottage. ‘Come on, you two. Let’s get inside. There’s tea and some sandwiches to enjoy.’ He clapped a hand on George’s back. ‘You better have hauled up some kibble for the pup too.’


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later, Sam and George headed back to London and left the couple on their own for the first time with the new puppy. It hadn’t taken all that long for him to be assigned a bedding area in the bedroom. It was given a spot just beside the wardrobe on a bed of old blankets and two old sweaters one of Adaline’s and another of Malcolm’s. An old belt of Malcolm’s became a makeshift leash for the first day until they had taken a trip down to the village. There, they hopped into George’s car for a run to Sterling, where they picked up additional supplies for the pup. 

Now, their friends were gone and Adaline had a small group tour to run that day. The pup, Skye, was yapping happily as he thought he was going for a walk with Adaline as she put her hiking boots on. She rubbed his ears and laughed as the pink tongue washed her chin. ‘Not this time, Skye. No walk right now. Malcolm will take you out soon.’

‘I will?’ Malcolm asked, handing her her backpack with her lunch in it. 

‘Skye is going to need a regular walk soon. Unless you want to be cleaning up accidents.’

‘Will I have about 30 minutes before I do? I want one more cup of tea before I go out.’

‘I’d take him out sooner than that,’ Adaline kissed Malcolm on the cheek. ‘Just to be safe.’

‘Noted. You still taking him along the short path then?’

‘For now, but I’m sure if you take him along that other path towards the fire pit, that he’d have a great time.’ 

With that, Adaline was off to her tour group and Malcolm sat back down with his tea. Skye was happy to sit on the kitchen floor chewing on a bone noisily. Malcolm was getting used to the loud chewing from the puppy and didn’t pay any attention to it, even when the noise stopped. The Scot hadn’t been watching the time at all as he read over the round of reviews he’d been sent. So focused was he, that the tinkling noise didn’t get his attention either.

A happy bark did and Malcolm reached down his hand to scratch Skye’s head until the puppy stopped him with a wet bump of his cold nose against Malcolm’s palm. ‘Alright, alright, walk time.’ Malcolm got up from the table and walked over to the sink to set his dirty cup there for now. He had been in the habit of just wearing socks about the place in the mornings rather than his slippers as a way to keep from waking Adaline up if she had a chance to sleep in a little. Two steps away from the table Malcolm learned the hard way that slippers were his friends now. ‘Sweet fucking Christ!’ The still warm puddle quickly soaked into his socks. ‘Did you seriously piss on the fucking floor, you mutt!’ Skye, not having witnessed Malcolm in full fury ever, thought this was a wonderful new game and began to run about yapping and barking, tail wagging. ‘Five more fucking minutes and you could have pissed outside!’

Skye barked and got up onto his hind legs to paw at Malcolm’s leg. 

Malcolm’s anger drained from him as the blue eyes looked up at him. His sock, still in the puddle, had sucked up the majority of the puppy’s accident. ‘Guess that’s a lesson for me. No waiting to take you out for your walk.’

The puppy barked in agreement.

‘You have to wait now, have to clean this up and change my socks first.’ Malcolm turned away for just a moment to grab a handful of paper towels to clean up the mess. By the time he turned back the dog had sat down with his tail wagging back and forth right in the remnants of the puddle. ‘Seriously?’ Malcolm scowled fiercely. Skye yipped at him. The Scot knelt down to stare right at the puppy. ‘Of all the floor to sit on you sit in your piss?’

Malcolm got a ‘woof’ in response. Skye’s pink tongue lolled out almost as if the dog was laughing at him. Malcolm just reached out and caught the pup by the scruff of his neck. He got a whimper of surprise out of the dog. ‘Stop that, you mutt. I have to clean up your ass now.’ Once the puppy realised that he was getting a different kind of petting he became happy again and tried to wriggle closer to Malcolm’s face to lick his face. With Malcolm’s response being one of keeping the dog away from him as he cleaned up, the dog just thought it was another game and just wriggled more. ‘There. One clean ass, now, off out of the way while I finish cleaning the floor up.’

‘There, all clean.’ Malcolm stood up with satisfaction that the floor was clean. He wriggled his naked toes which attracted an attack from Skye. ‘I get the hint. Let me get my socks and shoes on and then we’ll go for a walk.’

Skye happily barked at the word ‘walk’. It hadn’t taken long for the puppy to know what the word meant. 

Sitting on the chair, Malcolm got his socks on and then his hiking boots. Skye, liking boots and especially the long laces, was right there in a flash to try and grab for them with his mouth. ‘Cut that out, Skye.’ Malcolm had to fend off the wet mouth with one hand while trying to tie up his boots. ‘You’re only delaying things.’

He got a happy bark again. 

‘Let’s see if you’ve learned anything. Leash.’ Malcolm pointed towards the cottage door where the nylon leash hung over the knob. ‘Get the leash, Skye.’ The husky pup bolted to the door and just sat there barking. ‘Bring me the leash, Skye.’ More barking at the door. ‘Fetch, Skye.’ All the pup did was bark in response. ‘Ah, we’ll have to work on that some more then.’ He stood up and went to the door himself. As soon as he grabbed the leash, Skye began to scrabble up to the knob with his front paws, scratching at the door in anticipation. ‘Sit, Skye.’ 

The puppy sat happily if only long enough for Malcolm to clip on the leash to the puppy’s collar. Malcolm opened the door and Skye lunged to go outside. ‘Sit.’ Malcolm commanded the dog. He got a whiny yap, but Skye sat down. ‘Good boy,’ Malcolm reached down and scratched the pup behind the ears then headed out the door with Skye at his side.


	3. Chapter 3

A week later, it was a rare weekend that Adaline wasn’t going to be doing any hiking tours. The weather was far too foul and the only group that had booked in cancelled as a result. The couple had stayed up late the night before. Having a warm fire and just time to relax with one another had been wonderful. Even having Skye curled up with them had been welcomed. The puppy was grumbling happily with his eyes closed while Adaline scratched his ears. His front paws rested on Adaline’s lap and his hind end stretched backwards over Malcolm’s thigh. Skye’s tail thumped up and down with a content wagging in time to the ear scratching he was getting.

‘Almost don’t want to move to the bed,’ Malcolm had said after they had finished their hot chocolate. The fire had started to die down as well. 

‘This is very cozy right here,’ Adaline had agreed. ‘The bed however would be more comfortable.’

‘All okay?’ Malcolm asked, his hand moving to rest on her stomach lightly.

‘More than okay,’ Adaline suggested softly, her hand on his to tease along his fingers.

‘That sort of okay?’ He asked suggestively.

‘Oh, definitely,’ Adaline agreed.

‘Haven’t done this since getting our little buddy here.’

‘Practice then,’ Adaline teased. ‘Can you stay quiet enough to not wake a puppy?’

Malcolm gently picked up the puppy with only a minimal grumpy growl from Skye. He settled him onto his bed as Adaline headed to their bed. Malcolm joined his wife and they practiced making love quietly enough to not wake a puppy.

That morning, neither of them were in any hurry to get out of bed. Adaline was barely awake as she curled up against Malcolm’s warm body. The Scot slipped his arms around her, lips pressing against Adaline’s forehead to kiss her softly. ‘Morning, love.’

‘Mmm, morning,’ Adaline murmured. 

‘Nowhere to go today. Stay in bed for a while yet?’

‘I like that idea.’ She ran her hands over Malcolm’s chest before she leaned to kiss him. The peace and quiet lulled them into complacency to linger in bed as long as they could. 

It was another thirty minutes before either of them had thoughts for anything other than one another. Malcolm was brushing hair back from Adaline’s face. ‘Getting hungry?’

‘Only one thing I’m still hungry for,’ she answered. 

‘We have all weekend, love,’ Malcolm laughed softly. ‘I need to build up my strength to keep up with you.’

‘Are you admitting that I have more stamina than you?’

‘You’ve been a hill girl a lot longer than I have. I was a desk jockey for years.’

‘I’ll take that as an admission.’ Adaline pushed Malcolm gently to get him to lay on his back and then moved on top of him. Malcolm ran his hands over her thighs and up. She began to lean over him to kiss him.

CLANG

‘What the fuck?’ Malcolm lifted up off the bed, an arm protectively snaking around Adaline’s waist.

CLANG

The sound of metal against tiles was loud. A whuffing noise started up along with the sound of claws scratching on the tiles. Metallic bangs began as Skye pushed his empty food bowl against the cupboard door. 

Malcolm’s eyes closed as he relaxed against the pillow again. 

‘Sounds like I have two boys who are looking for food,’ Adaline smiled and began to shift off Malcolm’s body. 

‘Leave him. The puppy can hang on a little longer without food,’ Malcolm tried to tug her back towards him, wanting to just keep relaxing in bed with her. 

More scrabbling claw noises and banging of the metal bowl cut into the morning air. Adaline gave Malcolm an apologetic look. ‘Skye doesn’t want to wait.’

‘It’s just a puppy, he’ll live,’ Malcolm groaned, trying to hold her.

‘Practice, Malcolm. Once our baby is born would you say the same?’

‘Babies are different from puppies,’ Malcolm countered.

‘Not really, love,’ Adaline gathered the blanket around her body, pulling it away from Malcolm as she got up to go to the kitchen. ‘Be a good morning for you to make one of those wonderful breakfasts for us.’

Naked and quickly chilling, Malcolm grunted. ‘Put the kettle on at least.’

‘I can manage that.’ Adaline let the blanket drop and pulled on her dressing gown. 

He watched her leave the bedroom, but was still slow to leave the bed. Smiling, he just listened to her greeting the pup and then fussing about getting Skye his food. Not until he heard the water run as Adaline filled the kettle that he decided to get up. It had been such a wonderful evening and night for them. He’d gotten used to Skye being noisy through the night with what he assumed were puppy dreams. To have a quiet night all the way through had been welcome. Malcolm sighed, time to get up, he decided and swung his feet off the bed to sit up. He grunted at the cold floor on his bare feet. ‘Fuck.’ He went to slip his feet into his leather slippers that he habitually left right by the bed, but couldn’t find them. ‘Where’d they go?’ He mumbled under his breath. 

‘Adaline! You take my slippers again?’

‘No!’ She called back. ‘Kettle is on. I’m going to the bathroom.’

Malcolm stood up, unhappily with cold feet. He looked around, but couldn’t find his slippers. He pulled on his pyjama bottoms and then his own dressing gown. Malcolm took a moment to kneel down thinking his slippers had gotten knocked under the bed, but there was nothing there. Still with one knee on the floor, he glanced around the room to find them, when his eyes fell on the dog’s bed. ‘Oh fuck no…’ Malcolm groaned.

There were shreds of leather and lining from his slippers scattered on the dog bed. One of the slipper soles with only a part of the heel remaining on it, was lodged between the bed and the wardrobe. The other sole, half eaten and covered with dog slobber, was on the floor just beside the dog bed. ‘Adaline! The damn pup ate my slippers! Like fucking literally ate them!’

Adaline, drawn by Malcolm’s yell back to the bedroom, fought back a chuckle. ‘You can walk Skye later then. I don’t want to be around when that comes out.’

‘Ha ha fucking ha.’ Malcolm scowled.

Skye wandered into the bedroom where everyone else was and yawned, ready to lie down for a post-feed nap. ‘Woof!’


	4. Chapter 4

‘No, Skye. Mom’s going out without you this time.’ Malcolm had to move quickly to catch the growing puppy by his collar to stop him following Adaline out the door.

‘Gosh, I didn’t even see him there,’ Adaline apologised. 

‘Don’t worry, love. This fellow is more eel than dog I think at times,’ Malcolm grinned. ‘Sit, Skye.’

‘Woof!’ Instead of sitting the dog tried to stretch his paws up onto Adaline’s thighs, his claws scrabbling on her trousers.

‘Sit!’ Malcolm gave the collar a light tug to at least pull Skye back. ‘Sit!’ He gave the puppy a bit of a push on his backside to get him to finally sit, tongue lolling out.

‘Why don’t you burn off some of Skye’s energy with a long walk today? It’s supposed to be nice weather out, but cool enough to not worry about Skye overheating.’

‘Will do. I’ll probably take the long path down to the valley floor. Haven’t been down that way for a while.’

‘Take care,’ Adaline kissed Malcolm goodbye and gave Skye a quick scratch behind his ears. 

‘Alright, Skye. Just us guys here now. Going to behave for me?’ 

‘Woof!’ Now, Skye sat and thumped his tail on the floor, wagging it.

Malcolm grumbled. ‘Now you sit. Come on, then. Let’s get ready to go out for that walk.’

An hour later, Malcolm was fighting off Skye’s attempt to drag him through the front door. ‘Behave, you.’ Malcolm hung back from the door. ‘Sit.’ Skye just kept pulling at the leash. Malcolm gritted his teeth. ‘You want to go for a walk you have to sit first.’

The puppy twisted around trying to grab the leash from Malcolm, barking at it. Malcolm lifted the leash to keep it out of the dog’s range, but got only more jumping from the puppy to try and reach it. ‘No, Skye!’ 

‘Woof!’ The dog began to race about in a circle until Malcolm knelt down. Then the game became trying to catch Malcolm’s hand in his mouth.

‘Sit,’ Malcolm got more stern and gave the leash a tug. The puppy lashed out happily with his tongue to lick Malcolm’s hand before plunking down on his backside on the floor. ‘Good boy.’ Malcolm got up and opened the door. ‘Let’s go.’ With that, the puppy scampered out of the cottage, barely giving Malcolm a chance to close the door behind him. He was kept on his toes as they headed along the path. 

‘Are you going to stop and smell every damn stick and leaf?’ Malcolm asked the puppy as he began nosing around yet another twig just to one side of the path. ‘If you think I’m going to even try and play fetch with you off leash you are mistaken, Skye. Last thing I want is to chase you down the hills.’ 

Skye left off attacking the twig to circle back to Malcolm. He scrabbled his paws on Malcolm’s legs, barking happily at random. Malcolm scratched the puppy’s chin and got a loud woof of happiness from the husky. ‘Come on. Let’s keep going.’ 

The pair continued on their walk through the hills. Malcolm took the path that headed down the hill into the valley. At one small bush, Skye finally decided to do at least a pee against it. 

‘Now, if you’d stop trying to rip my arm out of its socket,’ Malcolm grumbled as he finally got a break while Skye scratched on the ground around the spot for a few minutes. ‘I think you buried it now, Skye. Let’s go.’ He gave the leash a tug and, instead of getting the puppy to start off walking again, it got Skye running madly around Malcolm’s leg as he chased an imaginary toy. ‘Hey! Watch out!’ Malcolm had to move quickly to stop the leash from wrapping around his legs. ‘Stop, Skye.’ 

It was at least 10 more minutes of mad jumping and running before Malcolm successfully had the husky sit still. He rewarded Skye with a scratch about the ears. The blue eyes of the pup closed happily and his tail thumped loudly on the ground. ‘Walk,’ Malcolm said and Skye got up to begin pulling Malcolm along the path once more. 

As the morning crept towards lunchtime, Malcolm worked to guide the still energised husky back towards home. His thought that the walk back would be faster was soon disabused as it seemed every single bush and rock that had been investigated on the way down the hill had to be sniffed once more by Skye. 

Suddenly, Skye tugged strongly on the leash in a lunge towards a hole at the base of one shrub. Malcolm had to step quickly to avoid being dragged down to his knees. ‘What have you got there, Skye?’ Malcolm recovered and kept up with the pup. The long nose was stuck down a hole within a second. Then a moment later the dog’s front paws were digging furiously to widen the hole. ‘I am so going to stop you if I see any sign of a critter down that hole.’

‘Woof!’ Skye kept digging, showering Malcolm’s trousers with clods of soil. 

Malcolm grumbled as the dirt stained his trousers. Then, suddenly, the dirt bombs being flung backwards at Malcolm became staggered bursts of wet mud that flew up higher than the heavier dirt. ‘Skye! Stop!’ Malcolm quickly lifted his hand to block the mud but he wasn’t fast enough to keep it from spraying his face. ‘No! Ugh!’ His tugs on the leash got him nowhere, so Malcolm had to brave the flying mud to reach down and grab Skye’s collar to finally stop the dog’s crazed digging. ‘Look at you!’ 

Skye, his attention finally off the digging game, thought that it was now the ‘scrabble on Malcolm’s thighs with his paws’ game and even more mud covered Malcolm as a result. 

‘How am I going to get you in the house without a massive clean up needed?’ Malcolm groaned after getting Skye back to walking towards home. ‘You are so getting a bath once we’re back. Not to mention me getting one too.‘

Back home, Malcolm figured that he was already a lost cause so he kicked off his shoes on the porch and bodily picked up the squirming dog. ‘No way are you tracking in mud through the house. We’re going straight to the tub.’ Skye responded with some very wet licks of Malcolm’s face. 

With a tight grip on the dog, Malcolm made it to the bathroom, closed the door firmly and then let Skye go. For once, the dog just sat there, happily wagging his tail as Malcolm filled the tub with water. Once full, Malcolm easily got Skye into the water. The puppy enjoyed the water, paddling about with plenty of splashing to cover Malcolm with warm water. With the water turning muddy as the dirt on Skye washed off, Malcolm drained the tub and spent some time to rinse the pup off until his fur was clean again. Grabbing a large towel, Malcolm wrapped the pup in it and got most of the water off its coat. Kneeling on the floor, after stripping off his wet shirt and trousers, he just had to accept being drenched in the process. 

‘There you go, Skye.’ Malcolm stood and opened the bathroom door to let the dog out. Skye scampered out in a blur to leave Malcolm to tidy up. He pulled on his dressing gown after quickly finishing up his own washing up. Throughout all he could hear was the frantic click of Skye’s nails on the floor. ‘What the fuck now?’ Malcolm left the bathroom and almost got bowled over by a speeding puppy passing by frantically heading to the bedroom. Furrowing his brows, Malcolm followed and got to the bedroom door just in time to watch the puppy jumping into his dog bed and rolling around insanely. 

In a flash, Skye launched himself from the dog bed and right past Malcolm. ‘Calm down, Skye!’ Malcolm chased the puppy into the kitchen again. As Skye ran frantically about the house, he left a trail of water drops. ‘Oh, come on, Skye. Stop running around!’

In the middle of the sitting room, Skye barked loudly and then stood there, shaking his body to spray the last bits of water that clung to his coat over every surface possible. 

‘Skye!’ Malcolm practically howled at the dog in frustration and bent to grab him, but the game of chase was on. Malcolm ran after the puppy to try and corral him and stop the trail of water flying about. After at least two laps through the kitchen, the sitting room and the dining room, with a side trip into the guest room before one more lap around the dining table, Skye led the Scot into the bedroom and launched himself up onto the bed to sit right in the middle of it. There he sat, tail wagging and tongue lolling out as the dog panted happily from its great runabout. 

Malcolm was working to catch his own breath. ‘Seriously? Off the bed.’

‘Woof!’ The tail began to thump even louder. 

‘You’re not to be on the bed, Skye. Down!’ 

‘Woof!’ Another happy bark was his only response.

Too tired from the walk, the bath and then the chase game, Malcolm sat on the bed and then flopped backward. ‘I’m too old for this.’

‘Woof!’ Skye barked and then flopped down himself. His chin rested on Malcolm’s stomach. Malcolm lifted his hand and laid it on the pup’s body, stroking the now dry fur. 

A few hours later, Adaline arrived home ready to give Malcolm a run down of all the test results from her doctor’s visit and to hear all about his day with Skye out on the hills only to be greeted by silence in the cottage. ‘Malcolm?’ She called out with no answer. Curiosity drew her to the bedroom. There, on the bed, Malcolm was stretched out, fast asleep, with Skye butted up right against him with his tail twitching in the midst of his dog dreams. ‘Can’t wait to hear about this,’ she said softly with a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

‘Stop looking at me like that,’ Malcolm’s concentration was broken by the constant gaze of Skye on him. ‘Seriously, Skye, stop that.’

The puppy barked at him, as if laughing. 

‘I have to get this reading done. We’ll go for a walk later after Mom gets back. Alright?’ He reached over and scratched the dog’s head a bit before getting back to his reading on the laptop. Skye scuffled over and sat until he could rest his chin on Malcolm’s knee. They sat that way for some time as Malcolm just read.

‘Woof.’ Skye suddenly stood up.

‘What’s up, boy?’ Malcolm watched as the husky walked over to the front door and sat down, waiting. 

A few minutes later, Adaline opened the door. ‘Hello, Malcolm, Skye.’ She bent down and scratched the puppy’s chin. ‘Good boy. Did you know I was coming home?’

‘Woof!’ Sky barked and then lifted up his paws to try and lick her face.

‘I’d say he did, he was at the door before you got here.’ Malcolm got up and hugged her tightly. ‘You’re home a bit early.’

‘The group hustled a bit with the signs of storm clouds coming in. I didn’t mind one bit.’ She sat down in Malcolm’s chair and slowly got her boots off. ‘It’s getting harder every time now.’

‘It’s got to be close to calling it a day now. There’s only a few more months to your due date now.’

‘Close but not yet. I have a few more scheduled tours to do and the booking office knows not to book me without checking first.’

‘We can still go to London to have our baby there.’

‘We’ve discussed that already, Malcolm. I’ll have the baby right here at home. My GP has arranged everything at the hospital just over at Vale of Leven. Did you track the delivery for the crib?’

‘It’s due here tomorrow. I called the delivery company already to warn them of the access road.’

‘You haven’t finished the painting in the nursery yet.’ Adaline wiggled her toes before working her shoulders to ease the ache from her backpack. 

‘I’m going to get that done tomorrow while I wait for the delivery. Then I’ll get the crib set up.’

‘Are you still going to want to redo that old chest of drawers?’

‘That’s my plan,’ Malcolm moved to stand behind Adaline, massaging her sore shoulders. ‘Strip it. Sand it. Paint it. You decide on the colour yet? I’m still hoping on blue.’

‘Malcolm,’ Adaline gave his hand a little swat. ‘I told you that I’ve made it clear to the GP that we’re not to be told the sex.’

‘I can’t just leave it unpainted.’

‘I’m fine if you leave it just white.’

‘White is boring.’ Malcolm leaned forward and kissed her on the neck. ‘I know you know.’

‘The GP hasn’t told me either.’

‘But you know,’ Malcolm’s hands moved from her shoulder to rest on her belly. ‘Moms always know.’

Skye woofed at the sound of the word ‘mom’. He stretched up his paws to rest on her thigh, barking at her.

‘See, Skye agrees with me,’ Malcolm teased, reaching over to rub a hand on the dog’s head. ‘What do you think, Skye? Blue or pink?’ The puppy made a little woof noise that sounded like ‘blue’. ‘See, blue. I think he knows what you know.’

‘I don’t know, Malcolm. No matter how much you think I do. If you do decide to paint it blue and we have a little girl you can then decorate it with little ballerinas in pink dresses.’

‘Deal.’ Malcolm grinned, hugging her tightly as Skye barked in response too.

 

Two days later, Malcolm got up from the breakfast table to clear away their dishes. ‘Want your usual hike lunch?’

‘Could I maybe get two thermos of tea?’

‘Sure thing, love.’ Malcolm topped up the kettle and set it to boil. Skye scrambled to his feet from where he’d been curled up by Adaline’s feet. ‘You’ve had your breakfast, Skye. Go to your place.’

‘Place, Skye.’ Adaline reinforced Malcolm’s words and Skye gave a little woof and scampered to the corner where a large dog bed was. The pup curled up and settled in with his chin on the soft edge of the bed to watch them both.

With Adaline off on the paths guiding a small group, Malcolm stood in the center of the small room that had previously just been used by Adaline for storage but was now to become their baby’s nursery. The flat pack that held the new crib sat in the middle of the room awaiting its turn for assembly. Cans of soft blue paint and a large paint brush. He had on a pair of older jeans and a shirt that had previously gotten spattered by the pale beige they had used on their bedroom some months ago.

A dog sneeze got him turning around. ‘You just sit and behave, Skye. Otherwise I’ll banish you to your place till I’m done.’

‘Woof!’ Skye answered him, tail thumping loudly on the floor.

‘Good boy.’ Malcolm grinned at the pup and scratched Skye’s head.

Malcolm got to work with cracking open one of the paint cans and getting to work on his wall painting task. He was tall enough that he only needed a step stool to reach the top edge of the wall. The Scotsman got into the task at hand quite quickly, humming to himself as he painted the off white walls a soft blue. Meanwhile, Skye watched him intently. At first he sat, tail slowly wagging, until he lay down, chin resting on his paws with just his eyes moving to keep Malcolm in his sights. 

After finishing two of the walls, Malcolm finished the first can of paint and paused for a cup of tea. Skye decided that it was also time for some fun with Malcolm and kept chasing around Malcolm as he tried to make his tea. ‘Alright, Skye. Give us a chance to get my tea and then we’ll go outside for a bit. You probably need a chance to use a bush or something.’ 

Skye ran about some more, scrabbling his paws on the cabinets to try and get Malcolm’s attention until the man grabbed a chew treat and gave it to the growing pup. Happy for the moment, Skye took his treat and settled down to gnaw on it. With a chance finally, Malcolm finished making his tea and sat to watch the pup eating his chew bone. 

‘Ready to go out for a few minutes, boy?’ Malcolm finished up his tea and headed to the front door, slipping a pair of his shoes on. By the time his hand reached for the leash, Skye was there waiting with his tongue out panting happily. ‘More than ready, boy.’ Malcolm clipped the leash onto the pup’s collar and opened the door. Skye tried to launch out of the cottage ahead of Malcolm however he wasn’t going to have that so he ordered the pup to sit. It took a few tries, but Skye did sit and then Malcolm led him outside. 

It took thirty minutes before Skye found the right small pile of rocks to pee on before letting Malcolm lead the way back to the cottage. Even heading back the growing puppy was distracted by just about everything they passed by. A small rabbit was startled by Skye’s barking and Malcolm was yanked off the path for a moment. ‘Stop! Sit!’ He gave the leash a tug and Skye resisted a bit yet, before he sat down finally in obedience and the rabbit was well out of range. Malcolm bent down and gave the husky a rub on his chest. ‘We have to keep working on you not chasing the locals so much.’

‘Woof!’ Skye barked in response. 

‘Go.’ Malcolm was pleased when the husky got up and began to walk at his side. 

Back at the cottage, Malcolm unclipped the leash and hung it up and Skye scampered off to his bed in the kitchen to curl up after all of his exercise. Malcolm washed up and then was back in the nursery, believing that he would have a fair amount of time to get the walls finished without any more distractions from Skye. Taking the lid off the last can of paint, Malcolm set it on the ground and got back to the paining. Soon he got absorbed in his work without paying attention to anything else happening in the house.

It was a metallic clank that got Malcolm’s attention and then there was a happy ‘woof’ from Skye as he stood there with one paw right in the center of the paint can lid. 

‘Fuck! No!’ Malcolm shouted and Skye, happy to play, ran off in a heartbeat. The quick move sent the paint can lid scattering over the floor and the husky’s one front paw was covered in the paint and as Skye ran off down the hall a trail of paw prints was left behind in a lovely pale pastel blue. ‘Skye! Stop!’

Skye got to the end of the hall and then turned into the kitchen with Malcolm right behind him. With a quick move the dog was under the table and then sat proudly. Malcolm sighed and grabbed a towel. ‘Give me your paw, Skye.’ The husky lifted his paw, surprisingly obedient now, and Malcolm got it cleaned off of the blue paint. ‘There you go, boy. All clean again. No more walking on paint can lids.’ 

‘Woof!’ 

‘Now,’ Malcolm got a handful of clean cloths to tackle the quickly drying paw prints that lead from the nursery, ‘Let’s get these cleaned up.’ Kneeling on the floor Malcolm began to scrub away. ‘Who’s idea was it to get quick drying water based paint? Oh, right, Me. To keep the smell down and not worry about a certain puppy from getting covered in paint by touching the walls while it dries. Brilliant fucking idea, Malcolm. Just brilliant fucking… No, Skye. Stay.’ Skye had left the kitchen and was bumping up against Malcolm as he scrubbed away. ‘Don’t need you to walk on the paw prints I’m cleaning up.’

The husky thumped onto the floor, paws crossed and chin settled on them, watching Malcolm get back to work. 

‘Fucking fast drying shit.’ Malcolm still had 4 more paw prints to clean up and it seemed like the pale blue paint was completely dry. He had to scrub incredibly hard to get the paint off the flooring. 

‘Malcolm? What’s with the cursing?’ Adaline had come home to the sound of Malcolm cussing. 

‘Oh, hey, love. Sorry.’ Malcolm got up, wiped some sweat off his brow. He headed to the kitchen to get more cloths. 

‘What on earth?’ Adaline spotted the paw prints.

‘I had a bit of help.’ Malcolm grunted.

‘Oh no. Skye!’ 

The puppy raised his paws to get Adaline’s attention. She took hold of them, looking for paint.

‘It’s alright, love. I got him cleaned up first. It’s the floor left to be done. Not to mention one last wall.’

‘Would you like me to do some painting while you get the floor cleaned up?’

‘That’d be a help. I’d like to get it done today. Want to get the crib up tomorrow.’ 

Adaline headed to the nursery with Skye at her heels. A simple ‘Down’ from Adaline was enough to have the puppy curl up on the floor by the door where he could watch her adoringly with his blue eyes. Malcolm busied himself with cleaning the last of the paint off the floor. Pausing a moment at the nursery room doorway, Malcolm smiled and watched Adaline slowly painting. 

‘How is it that Skye just listens to you and it’s a fight for me to get him to behave the first time?’ Malcolm asked. His use of the dog’s name earned him a lift of one of the dog’s eyebrow.

‘Because,’ Adaline stopped her painting and handed the brush to Malcolm, ‘You're not the alpha.’

‘Oh? And you are?’ Malcolm quipped back.

‘Skye. Come.’ Adaline didn’t look behind her as she walked past Malcolm, giving him a little kiss on the cheek. ‘I’ll make dinner.’ Skye got up and obediently followed her to the kitchen, tail wagging happily. Malcolm sighed.


	6. Chapter 6

Adaline sat up in bed, her belly sore as the baby was restlessly moving. Malcolm was off in the kitchen getting her a tea and to warm up the hot water bottle to try and ease her back pain. Skye jumped up onto the bed and lay against her, his chin resting on her belly in an attempt to help her feel better. Her hand lay on the puppy’s soft head, scratching him behind the ears. 

‘Skye, off the bed you.’ Malcolm came into the bedroom bearing a mug of tea and the hot water bottle. 

‘Leave him, Malcolm. He’s quite relaxing beside me and warm.’ 

‘What about the rule of no dog on the bed.’

‘Don’t you always say that rules are meant to be bent.’

‘Bent yes, but this is breaking.’

‘Skye’s on the bed sheets not the bed.’

‘Semantics,’ Malcolm grunted. ‘The sheets are on the bed, so Skye is on the bed too.’

‘Leave him,’ Adaline said again and took the tea from Malcolm. 

Malcolm let the subject go. ‘I think you should get in touch with the tour operator of yours. Tell him you're done. Can’t see you doing much more if you’re this sore now.’

‘I have one more scheduled this weekend. After that no more.’ Adaline sipped the tea. ‘You make the perfect cup of tea every time, Malcolm.’

‘I can only try.’ Malcolm smiled and helped get the hot water bottle placed under her against her back. ‘You just relax in here and I’ll go get started on the crib.’

‘Call if you need me at all.’

Malcolm gave her a kiss on the forehead and scratched Skye’s head before heading to the nursery. It wasn’t long before he had the box opened and sat on the stool that was still in the room from when he’d been painting. He flipped through the pages of instructions before he sighed. ‘Always like trying to read in a foreign language these. Best to get at it.’

Kneeling on the floor, Malcolm unpacked the box of crib parts. Assorted bars, slats and cross beams and screws were soon laid out on the floor. He was soon entirely absorbed in fitting pieces of the crib together. 

In the bedroom, between the tea and warm water bottle on her back, Adaline found herself dozing off. Skye sat up when her hand dropped from resting on his head. His wait for her to pet him again went for naught as Adaline fell asleep. Skye nudged his wet nose against her arm but got only a sleepy ‘Go away’ in response. His tail thumped softly on the bedsheets. He barked once, but again, got no reaction from his pack leader. If a puppy could sigh, Skye was doing that now. Giving up, Skye jumped down from the bed and went to his own bed in the corner of the master bedroom. He curled up and rested his chin on his paws and watched Adaline in the bed sleeping on. Bored, Skye got hold of a well-chewed toy lamb of his and began to chew on it even more, shaking it and tossing it about in his bed to pounce on it.

Malcolm worked away on the crib, fitting bars into slots on the cross pieces one at a time. ‘Fuck.’ Malcolm slipped while fitting one and scraped a finger on the edge of the wood. Shaking his hand to ease the pain, Malcolm picked up the bar again and worked it into the slot more carefully. The clatter of the wood bar on the floor had Skye’s ears rise up with interest. With his lamb clenched in his jaw, Skye jumped out of his bed and headed down the hall. There, he sat down and watched Malcolm working away. Skye lay down on the floor to happily scratch and chew on his toy lamb. 

‘Shit.’ Malcolm grunted as another bar gave him grief and it dropped to the floor, rolling away.

Skye’s ears went right up and his blue eyes lit up at the site of the ‘stick’ rolling along the floor. ‘Woof!’ With the lamb forgotten, Skye was on his paws in a moment and running right for the new toy. 

‘Skye! No!’ Malcolm scrambled and leaned to try and grab the bar before Skye could get it but he was shy of one inch from managing to save it. It was Skye’s teeth that clamped onto the wood bar. Malcolm reached for it to get it away from the husky and Skye’s lip went up as he growled in playful warning. 

‘Don’t you dare.’ Malcolm warned the dog. Skye’s ears went back and he bent down, ready to make a break for it. ‘Look, you can’t do that, Skye. I need that piece.’ Malcolm grabbed the chewed up toy lamb and waggled it in front of the dog. ‘Lamby is here. Ready to be chewed. Take Lamby and give me the bar.’

A pair of blue eyes watched Malcolm closely as the Scot tried to tempt him to switch toys. 

‘Drop it.’ Malcolm tried to order the dog to let go of the bar but without success at all. Suddenly, Malcolm lunged for it to try and get hold of it. He failed. Skye bounded away from Malcolm to the farther end of the nursery. ‘Stop, Skye.’ Malcolm tried again but the puppy was in full play mood.

Every move that Malcolm made to get the bar back from Skye was rebuffed by the husky growling at him, running away, shaking his head - every tactic that Malcolm came up with was countered. 

Skye ran off down the hall to the sitting room and sat under the table that Malcolm’s laptop sat on. The dog’s eyes seemed to laugh at Malcolm. The Scotsman stood there, glaring at the dog. ‘Drop it.’ Skye shook his head. ‘Drop the stick.’ Malcolm said again, pointing towards the floor. Skye’s tail thumped on the floor. ‘You can’t play with this, Skye. It’s for the crib.’ He knelt down and held out his hand, hoping the dog would give up his grip on the bar. 

The dog’s ears perked up, anticipating a new game. When Malcolm made a move to reach out and take hold of the bar, Skye was off in a flash, knocking the chair leg to tip it backwards. As the chair tipped back it banged against the table and threatened to knock his laptop off the table. ‘Damnit!’ Malcolm had to let Skye escape for the moment to stop the laptop falling to the floor. He saved the laptop, but the chair landed on the floor, loudly banging. ‘Fucking hell.’ Malcolm growled and picked the chair up off the floor. 

Malcolm headed down the hall, looking for the dog and found him finally once more in the bedroom, on the bed with his tail thumping against Adaline’s arm. The stick, chewed and damp from the dog’s spit, still clamped in his jaws. ‘Skye, drop it.’ Malcolm spoke firmly but softly to try and not wake up Adaline. Skye dropped onto his stomach, a paw on the stick to hold it as he began to gnaw on the wood. 

‘No you don’t!’ Malcolm grabbed for the stick and Skye dug in, enjoying the new tug of war game. ‘You’ll wake up Adaline, you mutt. Stop.’ Skye snarled mockingly at Malcolm, shaking his head. 

‘Too late,’ Adaline mumbled sleepily. ‘Really, Malcolm? Stop teasing the pup.’

‘Me? Teasing him?’ Malcolm answered. ‘I’m not the one using a crib bar as a chew stick.’

‘Skye, drop it.’ Adaline commanded and Skye let it go immediately.

‘Seriously?’ Malcolm was exasperated. 

‘He’s a puppy, not an intern Malcolm. You still keep trying to bully him into doing what you want. You have to command him.’ She picked up the bar and handed it to Malcolm then draped her hand on the dog’s back. ‘Go finish the crib, Malcolm. I’ll keep Skye here out of your way.’


	7. Chapter 7

Malcolm was at his laptop reading over the latest edits for his last volume of memoirs when the phone rang in the kitchen. It had taken him some time to get used to Adaline just having a landline, but it made sense with the spotty cell coverage in the hills. Adaline was in the bathroom soaking in the tub to help take some of the stress that was building on her back from the pregnancy. Skye followed Malcolm to the kitchen, sitting by his feet. 

‘Hello?’

‘Mr. Tucker. Is Adaline there?’

‘Oh, hey, Adam. She’s not available right now. What’s up?’

‘I received a request just now from one of my regular clients looking for a weekend getaway. I know they like nature and exercise and of course Adaline came to mind as she can get a good mix of those.’

‘Adam, no. You know she had the last scheduled tour this Friday and then she’s on leave till next year.’

‘It would just be this Saturday. Usual hike up the hill to the peak and then back. A brisk one.’

‘You do realise that she’s almost seven months pregnant now, right? And you still want her to go on one of the brisk walks?’ 

‘Mr. Tucker, I can appreciate you being overprotective of Adaline, however I can’t just accept you saying no. I do need to discuss it directly with Adaline.’

‘Look, Adam, I’m telling you here and now that she’s not going to take on anymore tours or walks. I’m not even liking her going on this last gig.’

‘You’re not on the contract as an authorised contact to make decisions, Mr. Tucker. You know that. We’ve had this discussion before. When could I speak to Adaline?’

Malcolm scowled into the phone and his tone was pretty clear. ‘I’ll see if she can come to the phone now. Hold on.’ He let the phone loudly drop onto the table. Skye barked in response. With the husky following at his heels, Malcolm went to the washroom, knocking on the door. ‘Adaline?’

‘Come in, Malcolm.’ 

‘Adam’s on the phone. He really thinks you’d be up to do an extra last job on Friday.’

‘I told him no more jobs,’ Adaline groaned.

‘I told him that and said no, but the stubborn tw….twerp.. won’t listen to me. Says it has to come from you.’

‘I am going to be redoing my contract with his group once I’m getting back into it. Give us a hand, Malcolm.’ Adaline held out her hand and Malcolm helped her out of the tub before wrapping her up in a large towel. 

‘When you do maybe list me as a contact?’

‘Of course, Malcolm. We’re a family now and make these decisions together,’ Adaline sighed as Malcolm helped her dry off. He fetched her slippers, tugging one away from Skye before the husky could run off with it. 

‘There you go. Done with the bath?’

‘Yes.’ Adaline wiggled her toes in her slippers. ‘I’ll go tell Adam no.’ She left the bathroom with Skye at her heels.

Malcolm stayed behind to drain the tub and clean up. He could hear Adaline on the phone telling Adam she wouldn’t take on the extra work at this time and even threatened to cancel her scheduled tour on the weekend as well. He knew that would be too much to hope for though. He joined her in the kitchen where she was still arguing with Adam. 

‘I know full well, Adam, who the client is. I’ve taken them on many walks up the hills and you are really over-dramatising what their reaction would be when you say no to them. Or you can always get Devon from Sterling to guide them.’

‘Devon is nowhere near as comfortable on the valley paths as you are.’

‘He’ll get better if you give him more tours through them. You already had planned on having him take over while I’m on maternity break.’ Adaline went quiet as Adam countered and then Adaline just flatly said, ‘No. Saturday is the last one. No more. That’s my final word, Adam. Goodbye.’ 

‘Sounds like he tried hard,’ Malcolm sat at the table, a hand stretched down to scratch Skye’s head. 

‘Oh, he did, but there’s no way I’d be in any shape to do anything more than the last tour on the weekend. I’m thinking maybe I’ll have you come along with me if that’s okay with you. Maybe bring Skye along to see how he does too.’

‘You think our lad here is up to being a good boy?’ He looked down at the husky and got a bark in response.

‘Oh, I think he is. The real questions is…’ Adaline paused and then gave Malcolm a soft kiss on the lips. ‘Are you?’


	8. Chapter 8

That Friday, Malcolm got up early and busied himself in the kitchen to make up a packed lunch and two large thermos of tea for the walk that day. Adaline was dressing in the bedroom. The sound of Skye’s eating stopped and was replaced by the scrabbling of his nails on the cupboard. ‘Sit, you. No scratching things.’ 

‘Woof.’ Skye answered, his tail wagging even more furiously. 

‘You are not listening to me, are you?’ Malcolm slipped the lunch into the knapsack, closing it up tightly. He knelt on the floor and got the dog away from the cupboard, scratching Skye’s chin. ‘Getting big aren’t you, boy. Still got some growing into those ears of yours though.’

Adaline came into the kitchen, gave Skye a cuddle and a scratch before giving Malcolm a hug and a kiss. ‘Did you make me herbal tea?’

‘Of course.’ He grinned and couldn’t stop himself gently stroking her pregnant belly. ‘You were restless again last night.’

‘I think our baby has your restlessness.’ 

‘My restlessness? You’re the walker.’

‘I walk because it’s peaceful. You’re still learning how to be at peace when you walk. Just like you’re still learning how to speak to Skye.’ She smiled at him to take the edge off her words. ‘Why don’t you go take Skye out for a short walk to do his thing before we head to the meeting point. I’ll get my boots on.’

‘I can help with those.’ 

‘Skye needs his regular walk. Otherwise he’ll just be that more distracted on the walk.’ Adaline left the boys to go and finish her preparations for the walk.

‘Let’s go out, Skye.’ Malcolm headed to the front door and took the leash down which got Skye running around in anticipation. ‘Sit.’ Malcolm told the puppy and was pleasantly surprised that the dog obeyed him almost immediately. ‘Good boy.’ He rewarded the dog with a scratch behind his ears and clipped on the leash to Skye’s collar. They headed outside where Skye immediately began to try and tug the leash from Malcolm’s hands by bursts of speed towards his favourite cluster of bushes. 

‘You’re supposed to be shitting, Skye, not trying to snort the damn bush out of the ground.’ Malcolm grumbled, but patiently waited for the husky to find the ‘right’ spot and squat. ‘Fucking finally.’ 

Skye finished his business and tried to scamper off in a frenzy of energy. ‘Oh no you don’t, Skye. Stay!’

‘Woof!’ Skye kept bucking and straining at the leash.

‘No, we’re not going off to play. We have a long walk to go on with Mom.’ 

‘Woof!’ Skye triggered on Malcolm speaking about Adaline. The husky ran back towards Malcolm, launching his paws up onto Malcolm’s thighs to try and lick his face. 

‘Sit,’ Malcolm said. Skye ignored him at first and just tried to jump higher on Malcolm. It took a little tug on the leash for the husky to sit on his backside, tongue hanging out. Malcolm knelt down to look right in the young dog’s blue eyes. ‘Skye, paw.’ He held out his hand and the puppy lifted his paw to place it in Malcolm’s hand.

‘You’re a good boy,’ Malcolm told the pup. ‘Now, I need you,’ He gave the dog a little shake of his paw to reinforce his tone.’You need to be a good boy on the walk in a bit. Mom wants you to walk properly.’

‘Woof.’ Skye responded and tried to launch up to slobber on Malcolm’s face. 

Malcolm caught the pup’s eyes, looking directly at him and became more stern in his tone.’Skye, behave.’

The dog settled, tail still wagging though.  
‘Good boy.’ Malcolm reinforced the better behavior. ‘Make mom proud of us.’

‘Woof!’ 

‘Let’s go.’ Malcolm got up, a firm hand on the leash, and headed back home with Skye walking properly beside him.

‘Look at you two,’ Adaline was impressed at how Skye was walking, tail up, without tugging the leash on Malcolm. 

‘Sit, Skye.’ Malcolm spoke and Skye sat down on his backside right away. ‘He’s been really good this morning. Should work out good on the paths.’

‘Sounds like you two have sorted out the ranks.’ Adaline grabbed the backpacks, handing Malcolm his. He shrugged it onto his shoulders and helped her get her pack settled. ‘All ready to head out now?’

‘Ready as we can be.’ Malcolm grinned, kissed her on the cheek and took hold of her hand with Skye’s leash in the other. 

On the way to the meeting point, Skye tested Malcolm’s patience with a few lunges towards some branches that littered the side of the path. He had to repeat his heel commands a few times with tugs on the leash and Skye did settle to walk mostly at their sides. ‘He likes his sticks, doesn’t he?’

‘He is a husky, Malcolm.’

‘He’s a dog.’ Malcolm countered. ‘All dogs like sticks don’t they?’

‘You’re so cute at times, Malcolm.’ Adaline teased him. ‘Husky’s love the wild and fetching and general play with sticks keeps his senses sharp for hunting.’

‘We don’t need our boy here to get running after the rabbits and moles.’

‘Then keep him happy with sticks.’ 

Malcolm grumped under his breath. 

They met up with Adaline’s clients, went through the usual introductions and rules of the path before heading off towards the downward path into the valley. The plan had been to follow the trail that wound along the Tulloch Burn. Malcolm walked at the back of the group, keeping Skye out of the way of the clients. The others pulled further ahead as Malcolm had to wait at times for Skye to mark his territory on a bush at random. A small bird landed on a tree branch, singing away, which got Skye’s attention and set the dog barking at it, straining at the leash to try and run at it. It took Malcolm a few tries to get the husky to leave off. 

‘Skye, stop.’ Malcolm got a little frustrated and took a harder tone with the wilful dog. The dog caught his tone and sat down. ‘Behave for mom.’ He waited a handful of heartbeats before saying, ‘Walk.’

Skye walked properly for a short time until they had passed one grassy area and into another cluster of low shrubs. There someone had discarded a large tree branch, probably having used it for a walking stick. The husky spotted it, ran towards it, not caring that he was almost knocking Malcolm off his feet with the suddenness of his move. He barked at it a few times before lunging forward and grabbing it in his mouth. The branch was at least 5 times longer than Skye. That didn’t matter to the husky. What mattered, was that he had hold of it and he wasn’t going to let it go. He was going to bring it along. 

‘What on earth are you doing, Skye?’ Malcolm grumbled. ‘Leave that go.’ 

Skye shook his head, as if saying no way to the Scotsman. The husky ran forward, branch clenched tight between his teeth. The branch dragged and bounced against the ground as the dog walked ahead of Malcolm. ‘You’re being ridiculous, Skye. That is far too big for you.’ He bent down to grab the stick away from Skye, but the dog held it too tightly. The tug of war was on as Malcolm pulled one way to get the branch away and Skye dug in with his paws to the ground to hold on to it. 

‘Stop.’ Malcolm ordered, getting nowhere.

Skye pulled backwards on his hind legs to drag Malcolm off the path. 

The rest of the group carried on further down the path, unaware of the struggle between man and husky. Malcolm had to replant his feet, digging his heels in to stop being dragged by the dog. He couldn’t believe the power the dog had in him. ‘Stop,’ Malcolm ordered, not taking any more of the dog’s stubbornness. Skye caught the change in Malcolm’s tone, stopped and sat, not letting go of the branch though. 

‘You’re not going to give that up are you, boy?’ 

Skye shook his head furiously, almost dropping the branch, but resetting it in his jaw. 

‘Fine. Let’s go.’ Malcolm gave a little tug on the leash. ‘Walk.’

The husky got up and tried to walk proudly along with the too long branch dragging along. 

The walk continued until they got to the favourite clearing that Adaline liked to stop for lunch at. It was a large enough clearing for a small group spread out and relax as they ate. It was while the rest of the group was settling in that Malcolm caught up with a still-proud husky at his side. Skye had to walk carefully to keep from letting go of his branch. 

‘Look at you, Skye,’ Adaline smiled as they approached her. ‘Where did he find that branch?’

‘Someone must have thrown it away after a walk. I tried to get it from him but… no luck.’ Malcolm handed her the leash to set his pack down. All Adaline had to do was tell Skye to lay down and he did, the branch however stayed close to him with his paws resting on it. Malcolm helped her sit down on a folding chair that he had brought in his pack. ‘Right on track with the walk so far?’

‘A little ahead actually. You weren’t too far behind. Skye’s been behaving well?’

‘Well enough to keep up.’

‘You’ve been handling it well I think.’ She bent down to scratch Skye’s head. Malcolm got them each a cup of tea with their lunch. He dug out a chew bone for Skye to snack on as they ate their lunch. It was the only time that the dog gave up the stick as he gnawed happily on his bone. 

‘How you holding up?’ Malcolm asked softly. 

‘Walking is slow, but my back isn’t too bad right now. You will be helping me stand up from this chair though.’

‘With pleasure, love.’ 

‘I think I’m going to cheat a bit though and take the closer path to the riverbank. That one steep rise may be too much for me.’

‘That’s a narrow path that way.’

‘Think you can keep Skye out of the river?’

‘Should be able to. He is on a leash after all.’ Malcolm sounded confident as he said the words. Skye’s ears twitched in reaction. 

As their lunch break ended, Malcolm folded up the chairs and helped settle Adaline’s pack onto her shoulders. Skye sat obediently and watched every move they made, his stick at his paws. Malcolm held back as Adaline led the way along the path ahead of the group. After a short pause, Malcolm gave a little twitch on the leash, ‘Walk.’ 

Skye ducked his head to grab the stick into his jaw and then trotted ahead of Malcolm, his tail wagging happily. 

‘Really? Can’t you just leave the stick behind?’ Malcolm asked the dog as they headed along the path. Skye walked with his head up, ears on alert. ‘Guess as long as it means you’re not wanting to go after any other critters.’ 

The walk went smoothly for the next hour as they wound their way through the low grasses and low rolling hills until the path came to a fork. The group took the path that led closer towards the river as Adaline had decided during lunch. The group headed further away as Malcolm got held up by Skye wanting to pause by a number of bushes. The stick came along the whole way. As the path wound its way through the grass he could hear the sound of the group talking as they walked with the undertones of the burbling of the river. 

Skye was behaving quite well and it lulled Malcolm into a sense of relaxation. Adaline was always talking about the peace that she felt as she walked and he was wondering if he was finally feeling that this time. He was certainly looking towards their future with their baby due soon enough. Malcolm had even gotten to rather enjoy having Skye around the house. It’s not something he’d ever picture himself as a dog owner. 

It was in that lulled mood that Malcolm found himself caught off guard as the leash tugged hard in his hand just as the path came to a bend in the river wear the riverbank was easily walked up to. Skye dropped the stick from his mouth and lunged towards the river towards some phantom target. The leash was long enough for Skye to make it into the river itself if only to muddy edges. 

‘Fuck no!’ Malcolm followed after, clutching the leash tightly.

The husky wouldn’t be held back at all. Skye bounded into the river up to his knees. What had attracted his attention was a small branch that had a few wilted leaves on it. As soon as he pounced on it, it bobbed under the water. He lifted his front paws out of the water and lunged forward as the branch floated up again. Skye landed on it with his paws and pushed down into the shallow river water. Unlike most of the river bottom this section was just mud not rocks and the landing of the two paws into the soft mud caused a cloud of mud to float up in the river to start drifting downstream. Skye’s paws sank in a bit, branch under them. Wanting to get hold of his prize, the husky drove his muzzle into the cloudy water and scrabbled about in the muddy bottom to try and bite down on the branch. 

‘Skye!’ Malcolm called to the dog, trying to get his attention and failed. The Scot tightened his grip on the leash to at least stop the husky from getting deeper into the river. ‘Heel!’ He tried again to control the dog verbally, but all that happened was Skye tossing his head back and forth furiously. The river water went even cloudier with the frantic motions.

Malcolm tried another heel command, but got nowhere. It was only when Skye got firm hold on the small branch that Malcolm finally got the husky to leave the river water. The dog paused a few steps away from the river edge and vigorously shook his entire body to shake the muddy water off his fur. With his chest puffed up with great pride, Skye trotted right up to Malcolm and, when the Scot held out his hand, the small branch was dropped into Malcolm’s palm. A moment later, Skye had once more taken up his own stick into his jaw, tightened his grip on it and began to head back onto the path towards Adaline and the rest of the group. Malcolm looked quizzically at the branch and then to Skye. All he could do was shrug and follow along. 

As Skye led the way along the path behind the main group, Malcolm followed along. For a short while he held onto the stick, but then decided to toss it away. The sound of it landing on a rock got Skye’s attention and the husky quickly dropped his branch, ran back and fetched up the smaller stick once more. He returned to Malcolm and presented it once more to the Scot. Malcolm honestly thought the dog was giving him a look that said ‘Don’t drop this again, you clumsy not-dog.’ Malcolm took the hint and hung onto the stick for the rest of the walk. 

By the time that the walk ended, Adaline had already said her farewells to the group and they left to return to the village where they had been staying. Malcolm and Skye arrived at the meeting point. Catching sight of his mom, the husky ran forward and Malcolm let go of the leash to let the dog run free to Adaline. 

‘Now, aren’t you a muddy boy.’ Adaline bent down to scratch the happy dog’s head. He presented her with the branch which she accepted gratefully. ‘Looks like you got a stick too.’

‘I did. Yours is bigger though,’ Malcolm pointed out.

‘Skye knows who the boss is then,’ Adaline teased and then hugged the scowl from Malcolm. ‘It is so easy to tease you, Malcolm.’

‘One of my redeeming qualities.’ Malcolm took her hand in his and got hold of the leash again. ‘Let’s go home.’

‘Great idea. We’ll give this muddy boy a bath.’

‘That means me right?’

‘I’m sure I can help if you really need me to,’ Adaline smiled at him with a wink.

Arriving home, Malcolm led Skye directly to the bathroom and had the dog sit patiently while the tub filled. A chew bone kept the husky occupied. ‘At least the mud isn’t tracking all over,’ Malcolm muttered as he got out the dog shampoo and large brush expecting to have to work out stubborn mud clumps. He also made sure to have a large towel on hand to dry off most of the water from Skye’s fur afterwards.

‘In you get,’ Malcolm helped Skye into the tub. He doused the dog in the warm water and got to work with lathering in the shampoo throughout his entire coat. As he got shampooed the dog made happy noises throughout. ‘Stop trying to eat the bubbles, you mad dog, you.’ Malcolm wiped off some suds from his cheek after he got a wet sloppy lick from Skye. The comb got just as wet from being tugged through some knotted fur. Not that Skye was fussed by it. He was enjoying the attention and the bath. 

With the last of the suds rinsed off, Malcolm grabbed the large towel and wrapped it around Skye to dry him off vigorously. The entire time Skye kept trying to wash Malcolm with his tongue. ‘As long as you’re clean.’ Malcolm chuckled and released the dog from the towel, having dried him as thoroughly as he could. Skye ran from the bathroom, almost colliding with Adaline who was about to join them with mugs of tea for both her and Malcolm. Once in the hallway, Skye stopped and shook his body furiously, flinging drops of water flying against the walls and the couple. 

‘Skye!’ Malcolm wiped the water from his face. ‘I already dried you off!’

‘At least it’s just clean water,’ Adaline consoled him. Skye promptly barked loudly and then tore off down the hallway, nails clicking on the flooring. 

Malcolm took the offered tea mug from Adaline. ‘I just bathed him, where’d he get this burst of energy?’

‘Self blow-drying,’ Adaline deadpanned. Malcolm had to look at her closely until the corners of her mouth twitched up in a smile. The nails sounded like they were doing a lap around the kitchen now. 

‘I barely want to make it to the couch let alone run around after all that walking today.’

‘We still have work to do on you then,’ Adaline teased him. 

‘You I can keep up with,’ Malcolm slipped an arm around Adaline’s waist. ‘Skye, not so much.’

‘Think you can keep up with our child?’ Adaline led the way towards the front room. 

‘I’m sure I’ll be able to keep up with a toddler when the time comes.’ They were preceded by Skye who bolted from the kitchen towards the front room. A thump was the last noise they heard. It took the couple only a few more moments before they were entering the front room themselves, but it had been enough time for Skye to get onto the couch, right in the middle, curl up with his chin on his front paws and hanging over the edge of the couch. ‘Now, how the hell does he do that?’

‘Dogs are masters of the instant sleep,’ Adaline smiled, her hand squeezing Malcolm’s with affection. 

‘He couldn’t have picked one end?’

‘I’m sure we could squeeze in one end together.’

‘Are you kidding me? With the space you need to get comfortable now?’

‘Malcolm!’ Adaline sounded shocked, but had the little quirk of her lips up in a smile.

‘Shoo, Skye. Over a bit.’ Malcolm tried to nudge the dog to move at least a bit to one end, but all he got was a little growl and a lift of one eyebrow. There was no moving the dog. Malcolm sighed. ‘I guess I’ll just sit on the footstool then.’

‘That sounds lovely, Malcolm. I could use a bit of a foot massage.’

Malcolm could only chuckle and shrug his shoulders in accepting defeat.


	9. Chapter 9

‘Why are we visiting in the winter again?’ George asked as they drove slowly along the wintry roads towards Balquhidder.

‘Because it’s Christmas and it’s Malcolm and we’ve been invited,’ Sam reminded her husband. ‘Just take your time. Once we get there, we’ll just park up the car and take it easy.

‘You’re sure the car will make it up that road to the cottage?’

‘Malcolm says that it will. It’s all frozen over now so we won’t have to worry about getting stuck in any ruts.’ 

‘I’m still skeptical.’

‘You’re always skeptical, George.’

‘Only about these country roads,’ he qualified. ‘They are expecting us today right?’

‘Yes, they are. You need to turn left up here. We’ll stop at the shopping center and get those items that Malcolm and Adaline asked for.’

‘There is a liquor store there too?’

‘No alcohol. I told you that. Malcolm doesn’t drink anymore.’

‘What about me?’

‘You can manage a week without any lager.’

‘But it’s the holidays.’

‘I’ll make it up to you after,’ Sam promised. 

‘I’ll hold you to that.’

‘Of course you will, darling.’ 

Two hours later, they turned off the village road and onto the lane that lead up the hillside. Sam could understand very quickly why Malcolm mentioned that they used a Land Rover when they went into town and why they typically walked into the village. George drove just slowly enough to avoid damaging the car on the rough private lane.The sound of the car on the lane was more than enough notice for the couple to be aware of their friend’s arrival. Throwing a large sweater on Adaline’s shoulders, Malcolm held the door open for her to go on the porch. Skye, no leash needed now, trotted behind her to sit on the porch at her side. Malcolm stood on Adaline’s other side, an arm around her shoulders for some extra warmth. The car pulled up and parked beside their Land Rover. Malcolm went to the car to help with their bags after a command to Skye to sit in place. Adaline tugged the sweater around her body to keep warm without him at her side. 

Sam couldn’t take any of the bags up as either George or Malcolm had already taken hold of them. She was left to lock the car. 

‘So nice to see you again, Sam,’ Adaline greeted Malcolm’s PA. 

‘You are positively glowing, Adaline.’ The women hugged. ‘And look at how big Skye’s gotten.’ She scratched the husky’s head getting a bit of a nudge back against her hand. ‘So well behaved too. He was handful getting him up here.’

‘He’s gotten quite good at obeying most commands. Even Malcolm can walk him with little use of the leash now.’

‘Now that’s a surprise,’ Sam chuckled. ‘Malcolm’s had better luck keeping a dog under control than he ever did some of the Ministers at Number 10.’ 

‘That’s something he doesn’t talk much about you know,’ Adaline mentioned softly. ‘He’s let me read his memoirs and they’re quite the read, but he doesn’t care to talk about it in general.’

‘I don’t see that as a surprise really. I think the point of his memoirs was to purge it from his mind and move on. He did have some job offers soon after he left Number 10, but he resisted them all. I’m really glad he found you. The change I see in him now is wonderful to see.’

‘He does let some cursing out on occasion though.’

‘That I doubt will ever disappear entirely with Malcolm.’ Sam glanced back to see the men heading towards them. ‘Let’s get inside. Think we could get some tea?’

‘Of course!’ 

Malcolm helped get their bags into the small guest room. ‘It’s a bit cozy here but at least you got a big enough bed for the two of you.’

‘It’ll suit Sam and I well enough,’ George said. 

‘It just made more sense to use the bigger room for the baby.’

‘Looking forward to becoming a dad?’ George asked. 

‘Scary at first, but I’ve got my head around it now. Wasn’t expecting to become a father at all at my age, but Adaline thinks I’ll be a great one.’

‘Just don’t swear around the kid and you’ll be fine.’ 

‘Believe me, I’ve had that talk already,’ Malcolm laughed.

In the front room, Malcolm and George joined the ladies. A fire was already going in the fireplace to warm the room comfortably. Skye curled up at Adaline’s feet, ears twitching as he listened in on the humans. 

‘Malcolm? Adaline was telling me that you were the one quashing the idea of putting up a tree for Christmas.’

‘Doesn’t make sense to. Next year when we’ve got the little one around we will.’

‘You can’t just not put up a tree, Malcolm! It’s Christmas!’ Sam was shocked. ‘You need to get a tree. Do you have tree trimmings, Adaline?’

‘Oh, I have a box full in the store room. Growing up we did lots of decorating for the holidays. When it became just me, I let it slide a bit.’

‘You’ll have to work out traditions then with your baby. We’ll have to get that started for you right now it seems. There a place nearby where you can get a tree?’

‘What do you mean? Get a tree now? Christmas is in two days,’ Malcolm scoffed. ‘There won’t be any trees for sale now.’

‘I believe there’s a tree farm about 20 miles away. I know you can cut your own tree at it,’ Adaline countered. ‘Though I’m sure you can get some help with that.’

‘Are you trying to tell me something, love?’ Malcolm squinted slightly at her. 

‘You’re not going to win, I think, mate,’ George commented. ‘As long as we take your Land Rover.’

Skye sat up suddenly and rested his chin on Malcolm’s leg, gazing at Malcolm. 

‘Even you, Skye?’ Malcolm petted the husky’s head, getting a little snort from Skye. ‘Any idea when they’re open till?’

‘Probably till dusk. It is outdoors after all.’ 

‘Up for a drive then, mate?’ Malcolm asked George, draining his tea mug.

‘Sure.’ 

Malcolm kissed Adaline. ‘No trying to pull out those boxes on your own.’

‘I’ll do the lifting,’ Sam promised.

‘Unless it’s heavy, then you better not either,’ George cautioned her.

* * *  
Hours later, the men returned in the Land Rover with a small tree tied down to the roof. It was just starting to get dark so they wasted no time in getting it off the car roof and into the front room. Skye began to race around madly, barking, at the sight of the tree. ‘Stop,’ Malcolm told the dog, but got nowhere.

‘Sam? Adaline?’ George called out.

‘We’re in the store room. Out soon,’ Sam called out to them. 

Malcolm grunted. ‘Skye, sit.’ The dog still ignored him and just lunged to the tree. His jaws latched onto the tree trunk at the base. Skye dug in at the first sign of Malcolm’s attempt to get the tree away from the husky. A low growl came from Skye as Malcolm tugged. George didn’t notice at first as he was setting up the tree stand. Every bit of effort that Malcolm put in to get the tree from Skye was met by the dog clamping harder onto the trunk and bracing his hind quarters. ‘Let go you!’ Malcolm told the dog, tugging harder. 

George, still kneeling on the floor as he was tightening the tree stand ready for the base, turned in time to watch Malcolm give the tree a good tug to get it from Skye. The husky, not fully grown yet, couldn’t hold on and let go suddenly. Malcolm squawked and began to lose his footing from the momentum. Sam, carrying a large box, and Adaline were just coming into the front room themselves.

‘Careful, Malcolm!’ Adaline got out as Malcolm pitched backwards. He stumbled as he tried to catch his balance. It was hopeless as his hands were still clutching the trunk of the tree carefully. Malcolm went backward, knocked into the footstool. His feet went out from under him and the tall Scot went down, his ass landing on the stool and the tree on top of him. 

Skye barked and launched himself onto the sprawling Scot, knocking Malcolm onto his back, 

‘Ow!’ Malcolm felt the prick of hundreds of pine needles on his skin. ‘Oof!’ The weight of Skye on his lap, one paw on his crotch, got the wind out of him. 

George began to howl with laughter as Sam could only try to stifle her own laughter. Skye howled happily, enjoying the attention. He grabbed the trunk of the tree again in his jaws and then lay down on top of Malcolm to begin chewing on it. Adaline came over to Malcolm. ‘Are you okay, darling?’ 

‘Physically, yes,’ Malcolm groaned under the branches. ‘Pride may be beyond repair.’

‘Tea heals everything. Skye, come.’ Adaline gestured to the husky to follow her. Malcolm grunted as the dog launched himself off his lap. 

‘George. Give us a hand will you.’ 

Skye behaved and sat at Adaline’s side on the couch as the rest of them began to unpack the box of ornaments and other tree decorations. As soon as Malcolm pulled out the first string of lights Skye growled at it. ‘Adaline, you want to keep your hand on Skye? I am not going to start chasing him about with a string of lights.’

‘He’d be fine,’ Adaline said. ‘It’s not a stick for him to go after.’

‘Don’t remind me,’ Malcolm scowled.

‘It’s Christmas, Malcolm, be cheery,’ George chided the Scot.

‘There’s cheery and then there’s exhausting yourself running after that bundle of energy,’ Malcolm countered.

‘I can’t believe how beautiful he’s grown up,’ Sam noted and gave the husky a chin scratch. ‘Still has some growing too, I bet.’

‘Oh, most likely,’ Adaline answered. ‘He’s eating up a storm, that’s for sure.’

Malcolm was busy hanging baubles on the branches of the evergreen as the ladies talked. George was digging out some garland. ‘These going to be safe with Skye there?’ George asked. 

‘Should be just fine. Just don’t drape it on the lowest branches and tuck in the ends,’ Adaline advised.

‘You’ve had dogs before then,’ Sam realized.

‘Growing up, yes. Not a husky, but a few German shepherds. A lot like Skye here without the love of sticks. Skye is just a beauty though.’

‘Until he showers you after a bath,’ Malcolm grumbled as he straightened up to grab a few more baubles. ‘Skye!’

The dog had moved quietly to the tree while Malcolm and George had both been rummaging in the large box. The shiny baubles had got the husky’s attention as they swung slightly. A nudge from his large, wet nose had set the tree shivering and the baubles swinging more. Another nudge made it swing more bopping against the dog’s nose. Reflexively, Skye thwacked the swinging bauble with his paw and sent it flying off onto the rug. It rolled about haphazardly. The husky barked at it, backing up and hunkering down to keep an eye on the rolling bauble. 

Before anyone could react and get hold of Skye’s collar, the dog began to jump about frantically circling around the rolling bauble. He kept barking at it furiously. His back end swung around, knocking into the footstool to knock it over. He swatted at it with his paw tentatively to send it rolling a different way. Skye swung about, his backside crashing into the lower branches of the tree. 

George lunged quickly to stop it toppling over. One foot landed on one of the other baubles that had swung off the tree. It popped loudly like a gunshot, causing Skye to jump in the air with shock. Malcolm moved quickly to grab the dog’s collar. Skye kept barking at the bauble until Malcolm picked it up and got it out of eyesight. 

Adaline and Sam couldn’t stop laughing at the antics of the men and the dog. Adaline caught her breath finally, ‘No baubles on the bottom of the tree, I’d say.’

‘You could have said that before!’ Malcolm grumbled as he began picking up pieces of the shattered bauble. 

‘At least they weren’t those new glass ones.’

‘These are bad enough.’ Malcolm picked up the old thin shards of metal.

‘Malcolm, can you give me one of the baubles.’ Adaline reached out for one and he handed it over. ‘Skye, sit.’ The dog came right over to her and sat in front of her. She held out the bauble to him, letting him sniff it. When he moved to nudge it with his nose she ordered him, ‘Leave it.’

Skye’s eyebrows lifted slightly. It was a new command for him. He sniffed at the bauble again and went to lift his paw to tap at it, but again came the ‘Leave’ command. Skye went back, sitting on his backside and gazing at Adaline. ‘Good lad, Skye.’ When she petted him, he barked happily. 

‘Is it that easy?’ Sam asked, curious.

‘Sometimes. Skye can be a bit willful at times. May take a few times to get it to stick though.’

‘The husky whisperer.’ Malcolm threw out the shards of the bauble. The men finished decorating the tree with a few practice runs of the ‘Leave’ command with Skye, when he made attempts to get hold of some of the garland strings. Nothing else was damaged or destroyed and the small group spent the rest of the day relaxing over wine and a good dinner made by Malcolm. 

Two days later, it was Christmas Eve and they had a fire going in the fireplace. The local radio station was playing a soundtrack of classic holiday songs. The announcer broke in just after the sun had gone down. ‘Stay indoors folks, looks like the area is going to get some snow overnight and into Christmas Day. And for any of you parents who got sleds for the bairns, they’ll be used tomorrow. May be up to a foot of snow falling.’

‘Good thing you two don’t have to go anywhere,’ Malcolm said, feeling Adaline snuggle in closer against him. 

Adaline smiled. ‘Last time the weatherman said we were to get a foot of snow, we got snowed in for a week. The kids loved it in the village. We built some snow forts and had a snowball fight in the high street.’ 

‘Guess we’ll be waking up to a surprise then.’ George rested his arm around Sam’s shoulders. ‘You have enough coffee, wine and food for a few days?’

‘We’re always well stocked up here,’ Adaline said. 

‘Good. Long as we’re fed and warm, we should all be fine then.’ 

‘I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am tired and just want to lie down. Hope you don’t mind.’ Adaline apologized, but it was waved off by Sam and George. Malcolm helped her to her feet, they said their goodnights and went to bed.


	10. Chapter 10

A large, wet nose woke Malcolm in the morning. When he didn’t open his eyes right away the nose was followed by a wet tongue rasping over his cheek. Malcolm cracked one eye open and was greeted by a bark and another sweep of Skye’s tongue on his face. ‘Shush, you. No waking up mom.’ His hand snaked out from under the covers to scratch the dog’s nose. ‘Guess I’m not going to get to sleep in any longer.’ Skye pawed at the blankets in response. ‘Off the bed then.’ 

Skye jumped off the bed. Malcolm carefully left the bed to avoid disturbing a sleeping Adaline. Slipping on his slippers, Malcolm followed Skye out of the bedroom. In the hall he cocked his head and listened for a moment and could only hear soft snores from the guest bedroom. Just him up then. And the dog. 

‘No stopping the routine for you, Skye,’ Malcolm glanced at the clock and wasn’t surprised to see it just coming to 6:30 am. It was still dark out, but the sun would be up soon enough. In the kitchen, Skye sat and watched every move the Scot made to make a pot of coffee. Once it was brewing, he fed Skye and then got his cup of coffee to watch the dog eat. 

Opening the curtains, Malcolm sighed. The sun was creeping over the horizon to shine on the fresh snow that covered everything. It was indeed close to a foot of snow on the ground. He had to admit that it was a beautiful scene with no disturbance at all on the snow cover. A rabbit bounded across the yard at that moment to break it up, but it was still beautiful, Malcolm thought. Hopefully the snow would mean a short walk for Skye. He had no idea how the dog would react to it. 

Draining his cup, Malcolm pulled on his warm coat and his boots. ‘Come on, Skye. You’ll be wanting your walk.’

Skye barked and ran to the door. A sit command had him park his backside, tail wagging furiously as he waited for Malcolm. Only after Malcolm had exited the house did he tell Skye to walk. It was only two steps out the door that the dog stopped at his first sight of all the snow. As if the dog’s brilliant blue eyes didn’t seem big enough they widened even more. He began to bark with excitement.

‘Go on,’ Malcolm let the dog go and go Skye did. Instead of going down the front steps the husky launched himself into the air to land in a snow drift with a whumph. Skye was grinning with glee the only way a husky could pull off. He shook his head to send snow flying from his fur before launching again into the air to jump into another snow drift. 

‘You’re absolutely mad, Skye,’ Malcolm chuckled as he watched from the porch as the dog leapt and bounded about in the snow. The dog came to the rabbit tracks in the snow and froze, sniffing furiously at the rabbit’s lingering scent. Snow began to fly as Skye began digging at it thinking to find the rabbit underneath. ‘There’s no rabbit under there, boy. You’re digging for nothing.’

That didn’t matter to the husky who kept digging and burrowing through the snow along the line of the rabbit’s tracks. Snow clung to the dog’s fur until Malcolm called to him to heel. Skye bounded over to Malcolm and shook his fur to clear the snow off and cover Malcolm with it as well. 

‘Crazy dog. It’s only snow,’ Malcolm petted the dog’s head getting a happy look back from Skye. The sun had only just risen for the most part when it clouded over again. The now grey morning sky made Malcolm shiver. ‘Go do your business, boy. Go.’ Malcolm headed out into the yard, Skye tagging along. They walked out of the yard and down the main path just away from the house. Skye randomly ran off ahead to jump into drifts. Around one of the clusters of bushes, the husky dug frantically until he found a small stick and proudly came back to Malcolm’s side to offer it to the Scot. Used to this now, Malcolm took it from the dog and held onto it as they carried on their walk. 

‘No idea where you get this energy from, Skye,’ Malcolm watched as the dog scampered off to find the perfect bush to do his business. ‘Finally.’ The grey skies felt like they were closing in on him now. ‘Let’s get home. I think it’s going to snow some more.’

On the walk back to the cottage, the snow did begin once more. ‘Fuck me,’ Malcolm grumbled. 

Skye went mad with delight as the large flakes began to float down from the heavens. The husky began to chase around to try and catch as many flakes as he could. At first, they were falling slow enough for him to catch a number on his tongue but then the snow began to fall harder and there just became too many for Skye to decide where he wanted to be to get the most flakes. 

‘Come, Skye,’ Malcolm commanded the dog to get Skye to settle and head home with him. ‘Walk.’ 

Skye held back only a moment longer before turning and bounding along the path to catch up to Malcolm. Back home and on the porch, Skye did another shake to clear snow off his fur. Malcolm grabbed a towel that they left just inside the door to get the dog’s paws dried off. ‘Go lie down, Skye,’ Malcolm gestured to the dog’s bed by the fireplace. He headed into the kitchen and made himself another cup of coffee. No one else had gotten up yet, so he went to the front room, built up a small fire in the fireplace and stretched out on the couch with a book he’d been reading. Adaline’s penchant for reading romance novels had influenced him plus there were so many of them around the cottage that it was just easiest for him to pick one up and read it. 

The husky came over to stare at Malcolm as he read, sitting patiently on the floor. Malcolm finished his coffee and set the cup on the edge of the table. Lazily, he rested his hand on Skye’s head, scratching the dog’s head as he continued to read. Despite the coffee, the warm fire and fresh air from the dog’s walk soon had Malcolm’s eyes closing. The book dropped onto his chest, laying open where he had nodded off mid-sentence. 

Malcolm’s chest rose and fell with his deep breathing in his sleep. Skye woofed softly, wanting more attention. The Scot didn’t rouse at all. The husky lifted his paws onto the edge of the couch. Skye nudged his nose against Malcolm’s hand, pushing the book off his chest onto the floor. Even that didn’t wake Malcolm up. Tilting his head, Skye watched him sleep on. If a dog could shrug its shoulders, Skye would have done that just before he jumped up from the floor and landed on the couch. Malcolm was so deeply asleep in his nap that even the weight of the husky on him didn’t get him to wake up. Skye stretched out on top of Malcolm with his head wedged up against Malcolm’s chin. A shift of his hips and the dog was comfortable and was soon as fast asleep as Malcolm. 

It was a good hour later before Adaline woke up with a need to use the bathroom. Once up and out of bed, she used the facilities and then headed to the kitchen expecting Malcolm to be there with coffee ready. With no sign of him, Adaline smiled at the sight out the window of the snowy landscape. The snow had fallen heavy enough to cover most of where Skye had rampaged through the snow drifts. Cup in hand, Adaline headed to the front room and then stood there, beaming at the sight of her beloved Malcolm and Skye, both fast asleep on the couch. Her hand went to her belly, stroking it fondly in anticipation of their growing family.


	11. Chapter 11

Four weeks after holidays… ’I think it’s time, Malcolm.’ Adaline was sitting at the kitchen table uncomfortably. They had just finished their lunch and Malcolm was setting their dirty dishes in the sink to be washed. 

‘Time?’ He froze a moment as her words didn’t really sink in yet. 

‘The contractions are happening more often now.’ Her hands rested on her belly, trying to comfort herself as much as she could. 

Malcolm swallowed hard, his tension ratcheting up suddenly. Skye barked. ‘Your water?’

‘Not yet, but I don’t think it will be much longer.’

‘Doctor said your due date was next week though.’

‘Babies don’t have day-timers or calendars, Malcolm. Our little one is deciding that it’s time now.’

‘Should we go to the hospital then?’

‘Probably be a good idea.’ She winced as another contraction rippled over her belly. ‘The bag should be ready in the bedroom to go.’

‘It is. Just.. hang on.. I’ll get the bag and warm up the car.’ Malcolm could feel a sense of panic and worry building inside. 

‘Malcolm, breathe. It’s going to be fine,’ Adaline told him. 

‘The baby is early though. Have to be ready. Sam and George will have to get up here.’ Malcolm ran a hand through his hair unsure of what he should do first. He left the kitchen to go to the bedroom. 

Adaline sat at the table calmly, drinking her juice. She was confident that Malcolm could get the bag from the bedroom and put it in the car without any issue. They had talked about it weeks ago and had packed it together. She couldn’t help, but gasp as another contraction left her breathless for a moment. Too caught up in her pain, she wasn’t listening too much to what Malcolm was up to in the other room. Skye had come over to her, head resting on her thigh to try and comfort her. ‘You know something’s up too, don’t you?’ Skye gave her a soft woof in response. ‘First you and now we’re going to have a little bairn around the house. What do you think of that?’

Skye barked and nuzzled against her with his large, wet nose. 

In the bedroom, Malcolm had the bag up on the bed and had it open as he rifled through it going over the list in his head of the items that Adaline needed and what their baby would need to come home with. He counted the number of sleepers they had packed for the newborn and he decided it wasn’t enough and ran from the bedroom to the nursery to grab a few more. Tucking them into the bag, Malcolm was about to close it up again when his eyes fell on Adaline’s packed clothing and thought it best that he get Adaline extra clothes just in case. He had unpacked all of her clothes from the bag and was rummaging through the dresser to get her some more undergarments when Adaline had levered herself from behind the table to shuffle down the hallway to the bedroom, wondering where Malcolm had gone to. Skye trailed at her heels. 

‘Fuck!’ Adaline just stared at the unpacked mess on the bed.

‘Adaline!’ Malcolm had frozen in place at the sound of his wife cursing loudly.

‘What on earth are you doing?’ Adaline gestured to the spread out clothing on the bed. ‘We agreed that we had everything needed all packed.’

He stood there with a number of her bras in his hands. ‘I thought you could use some more.. Um..’ He held them up by way of explanation.

‘I don’t need extra bras or underwear, Malcolm. Put those back.’ Adaline shook her head. ‘Did you put in more sleepers too?’

‘Yes. I mean… the baby will probably throw up and then we’ll need to change her.’

‘Or him. No, Malcolm. We don’t need extra anything. There’s no expected complications so we’ll only be at the hospital a few days at most. We’re not packing for a two week holiday.’

‘But…’ 

Skye interjected with a bark. 

‘Go,’ Adaline grabbed the bras from Malcolm’s grasp. ‘Get the car ready. It’ll need clearing off and warming up.’

‘But..’ Malcolm stammered a little.

‘You adorable man,’ Adaline kissed him on the nose. ‘You’ll do just fine as a dad. You’re just a very bad father to be. Leave this to me and go ready the car.’

‘You sure?’ 

Skye barked again. 

‘You’ve been told.’ Adaline smiled. ‘Go.’

Malcolm shrugged and did as he was told. 

‘Car’s ready, love.’ Malcolm came back inside, stamping snow off his boots. 

‘Good. The bag is on the bed. I’ll just need some help with my boots.’ Adaline was sitting in the kitchen, keeping off her feet. ‘I’ve called Sam and let her know. She and George should be up here later this evening. Will depend on the traffic.’

‘You think Skye will be good on his own that long?’

‘Of course he will. He’s had his walk and I’ve just fed him while you were out in the car.’ 

‘If you’re sure.’ Malcolm was still sceptical, but went to the bedroom and got the bag. He hefted it out into the car. He returned and helped Adaline get her boots on. ‘You warm enough?’

‘I’m fine, Malcolm. I’m not that fragile, only pregnant.’

‘Still,’ Malcolm helped her to her feet. ‘Be careful. Did you call the doctor?’

‘Yes, I did. Let him know the timing and, I’ve called the hospital to let them know we’re coming in. Just need you to stay calm and drive safely now.’

‘Do you honestly think I’d be crazy driving with such precious cargo in the car?’ 

‘You’ve not driven down the hill when it’s covered in snow. Just be careful.’

* * *  
Adaline’s labour wound up lasting over 10 hours. Malcolm was at her side the entire time. Sam dropped by as well, leaving George at the cottage to mind Skye. It wasn’t much of a surprise to Malcolm that George would be a bit squeamish about being at a hospital. 

They hadn’t talked much about what they had hoped for - a girl or a boy - even if deep down Malcolm hoped for a little boy. He knew it was ridiculous, but he always recalled the days he had spent with his father on their hikes and wanted to pass that on to his own boy. A tight squeeze of his hand by Adaline broke into his thoughts and he once more urged her on. 

The nurse came into the room and was quickly evaluating Adaline’s condition. ‘You’re close. I’m calling the doctor.’ 

‘Is it time?’ Malcolm asked.  
‘Sooner rather than later now,’ the nurse answered as she scuttled from the room. 

‘Aaaah,’ Adaline cried out as a strong contraction ran through her. Her hand was holding onto Malcolm like a vise. All Malcolm could do was comfort her the best he could. 

Minutes later the doctor was joining them in the room and all things went into high gear. Malcolm was relegated to just holding Adaline’s hand and told to stay out of the way. The actual birth itself took about an hour and left Adaline drenched with sweat from the efforts of pushing so hard. 

‘One last push, you’re almost there,’ the doctor encouraged Adaline. 

Adaline gave it all she could and her cries were broken suddenly by the loud squeal of a newborn baby. There was a flurry of activity by the doctor to tie off the umbilical cord and the nurses to clean the baby up, bundling it up into warm blankets. 

‘Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Tucker. Welcome Baby Boy Tucker into the world.’ The doctor laid the baby onto Adaline’s chest. ‘He’s a healthy little boy, weight at 7.3 lbs, 17 inches and you can hear his lungs are strong. All toes and fingers present.’

‘A boy?’ Malcolm couldn’t register it properly as he was lost in gazing at their child in Adaline’s arms. He gingerly reached out to touch the baby’s chubby cheek and beamed when the little hand flailed out and got hold of his finger instead. 

‘You got the boy you wanted,’ Adaline said softly, equally lost in the wonder of their newborn. 

‘He’s got a strong grip,’ Malcolm grinned at his son. 

‘Malcolm?’ Adaline gazed at him warmly. 

‘I already said yes,’ Malcolm answered her unspoken question. He glanced up at the nurse. ‘His name is Logan. Logan Angus Tucker.’

The boy cried out loudly and at length in response. 

* * *

The next day, after a full health check, the doctor cleared them to go home with their son. Malcolm got Logan tucked safely into the baby seat and then helped Adaline into the back seat so that she could be right beside him on the way home. He drove even more carefully on the way back, even though all of the streets had been cleared by plows. Even the rough road up to the cottage had been cleared by one of the neighbours with their tractor. 

Even at the cottage, George had been busy and cleared off the walk from the driveway to the porch. Skye must have been let out at some point as well as the snow had been disturbed all around the cottage. 

As soon as they lifted Logan from the car and into the cold air the boy let rip a loud squeal again. ‘You’ll have to get used to this chill, lad. It’s been worse already than this.’

Sam came out onto the porch to get the bag from Adaline. ‘How are you?’ She hugged the new mother. ‘How’s Logan?’

‘I’m fine. Sore of course. Logan is as healthy as a Scottish bairn could be.’

Malcolm was still beaming with pride as a new father would be. ‘Sam, meet Logan.’

‘He’s such a big boy!’ Sam gently stroked the boy’s cheek getting a gurgle in response. ‘I sent George out to walk Skye so that you could get in the house without Skye going crazy on you.’

‘Thank you,’ Adaline said with relief. ‘I really just want to lie down now.’ 

‘Want me to take Logan for a bit while you get settled?’ Sam offered, more than happy to cuddle with the newborn. 

‘Could you?’ Adaline gently handed Logan over into Sam’s care. ‘Malcolm? Can you give me a hand to change to get into bed. My back is killing me.’

Malcolm was hesitant to leave his son alone for a few moments even if it was with his most trusted friend. Adaline took hold of his hand with a little squeeze and then a tug to get him to come with her. ‘Logan is in good hands, you know that.’ Malcolm nodded and gently stroked the back of Logan’s tiny hand before he left the room with Adaline. 

In the bedroom, Malcolm helped Adaline change into her pyjamas before settling her onto the bed. She was exhausted physically from the birth and now getting used to not carrying their baby any longer. Laying there with her feet up, Adaline sighed happily as Malcolm massaged her a bit. ‘I bet you’ll be wanting to get back to your walking soon enough.’

‘I will. I miss it. I want to get Logan out there too.’

‘Test that baby carrier out?’ Malcolm teased. He was still bemused at the idea of a backpack to carry the baby. He had always thought of babies needing a stroller, but up on the hills that wouldn’t be feasible. 

‘Soon enough, Malcolm.’ The moment was broken by the cry Logan let rip. 

‘Hungry boy?’ Malcolm asked as he stood up.

‘Probably. Can you?’

‘I’ll go get him,’ Malcolm offered. 

Minutes later, Malcolm returned to the bedroom with their hungry and very loud baby. Adaline soon had the baby settled to feed. ‘George is heading back. Saw him out the back window with Skye.’

‘Can you make sure Skye’s not tracking any snow inside before bringing him into the bedroom. As soon as he gets in the house he’ll know something is up.’

‘You think so?’

‘I know so. He’ll be able to smell Logan right away.’

‘True,’ Malcolm nodded, watching his son with his wife. He left them when he heard the front door open. 

Skye had done his usual vigorous shake before coming in the house so there wasn’t much to clean off. The dog was anxious and sniffing the air a lot, his tail going back and forth. Malcolm spent his usual time of cleaning him off of any snow and warming the husky up from his walk outside. With the leash still on, Malcolm gave the dog a good petting. ‘You smell something don’t you, Skye?’

The husky barked in response.

‘You want to meet Logan? You’ll have a brother to play and grown up with.’

Skye’s tail began to wag faster. They had already got the dog familiar with the nursery and other baby things they’d bought before the birth. 

‘You have to be a good boy and listen,’ Malcolm spoke to the dog, hand on the leash lightly just in case. Skye kept looking down the hall towards the bedroom. ‘Sit, Skye.’

The dog looked up at Malcolm and sat obediently. ‘Good boy. Let’s go meet Logan.’

They went down the hall and Malcolm had the husky sit at the doorway. His tail was going a mile a minute. Logan, resting in Adaline’s arms, had finished eating and was close to falling asleep again. His little hands were waving about trying to grab Adaline’s finger as she waggled it in front of him. 

Skye went up to the side of the bed, paws up on the edge to get close to Logan’s toes. His large nose was sniffing like mad as he took in the scent of the newborn. Logan could feel the dog’s breath on his toes and began to wriggle a bit in response. Adaline calmly stroked Logan’s head, the soft hair that he had been born with was a pale brown already. Skye’s blue eyes were wide as he watched the baby. He sniffed some more then turned back to Malcolm, tail still wagging crazily. The husky sat on the floor, head up to watch before he got up again and went back to the bed for another good sniff of Logan. Malcolm was happy that the husky wasn’t going to madly rush to the baby so he unclipped the leash. Skye didn’t react to that and just kept sniffing. His nose got closer to the boy’s little feet. When Logan’s foot nudged the husky’s nose the wetness startled the baby and he waved his legs about more. Skye backed up and away from the flailing feet before he nudged closer when the baby settled down. 

‘So far so good?’ Malcolm asked softly. 

‘Excellent actually,’ Adaline said. ‘Up, Skye.’

The dog jumped up onto the bed carefully. He rested his paws on Adaline’s thigh and sniffed close to the baby’s stomach. Logan wasn’t sure of what was going on and his hands flailed about, knocking into the dog’s nose. Skye was only startled a moment and didn’t move, treating the newborn with caution and patience. 

‘Good boy, Skye,’ Adaline was pleased and gave the dog a head scratch. ‘You and Logan will get along just fine.’


	12. Chapter 12

Epilogue — Chapter 12 — Trouble Comes In Pair

Skye lay on the floor, his eyes watching every move the year old Logan was doing on the floor playing with his toys. Logan was trying to push a block into a slot on the plastic toy set but couldn’t get the square block into the round hole. Frustrated for the moment the boy threw the block away and it landed on Skye’s stomach. The boy got up from the floor, a bit unsteady at first but managed to take a few steps over to Skye. The husky just watched the boy totter and then drop onto his bottom beside the dog. Logan babbled happily as he grabbed the block once more and smacked the block in his hands. Skye’s ears twitched, but he didn’t react to the noise otherwise. 

Logan stood up again and toppled back onto his bottom with a laugh. Skye got up to nudge the boy, making sure he was okay despite his topple. Logan grabbed the husky’s ears and cuddled up close to the dog. 

Malcolm looked into the front room and smiled. ‘You two be good and behave.’ 

Adaline was out on the hills with a group, so Malcolm was keeping busy in the cottage. He had his laptop set up and was working at responding some emails he’d been forwarded by Sam. He still got requests even now for consulting on politics. The phone rang and he got tied up for a while discussing details of a consulting request. He wasn’t concerned about Logan with Skye. Over the year the husky had proven time and time again to be just as caring about the boy as he and Adaline were. If anything, Skye’s instincts were even more fine tuned. The dog hovered by the boy constantly and they had become an inseparable pair. 

In the front room, Logan wobbled up once more and took a few unsteady steps with Skye right at his side. While Malcolm was busy talking on the phone, the boy tottered into the kitchen. It was like an unspoken agreement that Logan was going to help Skye as he went right to the cupboard that the dog snacks were kept in. The husky stood behind the boy to help keep him upright. It took Logan a few tugs to get the door open as it had a stiff latch on it. Skye was there to stop him falling backwards as the boy got the door open and he stepped into the cupboard and reached up to the tub of dog snacks. Skye stood there, tail wagging happily as Logan grabbed a dog snack and handed it back to Skye. The husky happily munched on the snacks. 

Malcolm hung up the phone and turned in time to see Logan grabbing a dog snack from the tub to give it to the eager husky. ‘Hey now. It’s not treat time for Skye!’

The dog barked as if to say it was time to for a treat. 

Logan beamed at his father and held out his hands to hope for a lift up into Malcolm’s arms.

‘Now you want a hug? You just snuck treats for Skye when you shouldn’t have!’ Malcolm shook his head, but smiled as he picked the boy up into a hug. Logan laughed happily as he snuggled into his father’s arms. Skye barked and butted against Malcolm’s legs hoping for attention himself. ‘No, no more treats for you, Skye.’ Malcolm pushed the cupboard door close again. 

Logan grabbed at Malcolm’s nose and then decided he wanted down again. Malcolm set the boy onto the floor and watched as his son toddled out of the kitchen with Skye right beside him. He peeked out of the kitchen to watch as the pair went back to the front room. The boy was back at his toys and Skye was right there, curled up around him protectively. Malcolm smiled at the sight of the two of them. He made a mental note to buy a better latch for the cupboard when they were in town next…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the last of Malcolm and Adaline's story. Hope you enjoyed it!


	13. The World According to Skye

The logs had long since burned down, but they continue to heat the cottage sitting room to a toasty warmth. Perfect for the large husky to nap hard. Only the occasional twitch of his tail let on that he was enjoying himself. Not that anyone was currently in the sitting room with him. Normally, the large husky would accompany his family when they ventured outside no matter the weather. Snow and rain were nothing to him as long as he was with his family. 

Skye had been told to stay when they had left. His pack leader, the feeder and the youngster. They were his world and he listened to them, protecting them and doing all he was asked to do. The husky had sat, tail thumping on the floor as his ears pricked up to listen to the car driving off. Only after he couldn’t hear it any longer had he gone to his usual spot in front of the fire to lay down and wait patiently.

Time passed and even his tail was at rest when a soft scurrying sound made his ear prick up. It wasn’t the car returning. It wasn’t his family. No, this was something that required investigation. Skye lifted himself up to sit on his haunches. His ears moved about, waiting on the next sound. 

It came again. A soft scurry coming from by the door. Skye got on all four paws, senses alert. His nails clicked on the floor as he approached the cottage door. The sound was gone again, so he waited, nose down towards a small gap at the bottom of the door. 

His patience began to wear out and Skye lay down on the floor, still gazing at the gap. His eyes closed once more and his wait became another nap.

The scurrying began once more. Skye’s ears twitched and he opened his eyes. The noise no longer came from the gap at the bottom of the door. No, it was much closer now. His nose got busy as he lay there trying to smell what was around, but he didn’t move otherwise. The scurry got closer and then froze suddenly.

Skye’s eyebrows went up as the small field mouse came into view practically at the end of his nose. The husky was more curious than anything.

The field mouse, its dull brown coat was worse the wear at the end of the winter season. Probably hungry and looking for some easy food somewhere and wandered in through the gap. Or maybe it was the draw of the indoor warmth that had drawn it in. Whichever it was, it was sitting there frozen in fear facing the blue eyed gaze of the husky. 

Skye’s nose twitched at the smell of the mouse. His eyes locked onto it, but the husky made no move against it. It’s not like the well-fed husky was hungry at all and this small mouse was not a threat at all. 

The field mouse remained frozen, waiting for any sudden move by the husky to turn and scamper back out through the gap. 

The standoff dragged on for a long few minutes. Skye grew bored at the lack of movement from the mouse and his eyelids slowly closed. His napping instinct took over and he was soon breathing slowly in sleep. 

The field mouse slowly began to move past the husky, wary and ready to dart away, but the anticipated attack never came. The mouse found its way into the kitchen and found some stray dog kibble under a cabinet where brooms couldn’t reach easily. It nibbled away on the free food until it was stuffed. The mouse felt safe under the cabinet, well away from where the large paws of the husky could reach it. The warmth of the cottage had it napping as well after its meal. 

Skye, the mouse no longer on his mind, made his way into the kitchen to search for some food of his own. His bowl still had some food in it so he ate that down. Content again for the moment, he padded over to the large bed at the back of the kitchen. After a few turns about on it, the husky settled in for a proper sleep this time, not just a nap. 

It was the mouse that woke up first. It stretched its paws out under cover of the cabinet and slowly moved forward to emerge back into the kitchen. The mouse didn’t really want to go back outside into the cool, wet spring air. It’s little black eyes looked around the kitchen and it spotted the bed. It slowly moved towards it and froze at the sight of the slow raising and falling of the husky’s chest as it slept on. The warmth of the dog was too tempting. The mouse managed to scramble up onto the bed. 

The husky slept on, no longer interested in the mouse as it wasn’t a threat and it wasn’t really entertaining at all.

The mouse was so small that as it walked up one of the husky’s back legs, Skye didn’t wake at all. The mouse came to the husky’s side and found a small crease where the husky’s legs were that seemed to be perfect for a small field mouse to settle in for a proper sleep of its own. The mouse used its paws to push the husky’s fur about just enough to make a little nest and it curled up. Barely seen with the long fur of the husky covering it. 

Some time later, the cottage door opened and Skye’s family returned. 

‘Mum! Look!’ Logan pointed from the door of the kitchen. ‘Skye found a friend!’

Skye’s ears twitched and his eyes opened, but he didn’t want to disturb the creature at all and he stayed still. 

‘What do you mean, lad?’ Malcolm was helping Adaline with her jacket, hanging it up.

‘There’s a field mouse sleeping on him.’ The boy lowered his voice at the sight of the small creature sleeping on the large husky.

‘A field mouse?’ Adaline asked, joining their son at the kitchen door. ‘Oh! Will you look at that!’

‘How in hell did a mouse get in the house!’ Malcolm growled. 

‘Sh, dad. They’re friends.’ The youngster smiled up at his parents. ‘Can we keep it?’

‘I don’t think so.’ Malcolm declared and then caught the warning look from Adaline. ‘Not permanently. It’ll run off on its own I’m sure.’

‘Once it has, you can find out how it got in the house and fix the hole.’ Adaline smiled sweetly at him.


End file.
